BGU-ISO: a stable isotope laboratory at the Dept. of Geological and
Environmental Sciences
A new stable isotope lab was established at the Dept. of Geological and
Environmental Sciences in BGU. Funding for the establishment of the lab was
granted by the Wolfson Foundation to Dr. Orit Sivan, Dr. Sigal Abramovich and Dr.
Yaron Katzir. The university vigorously supported the lab and matched the Wolfson
grant from its own resources. The lab enables a highly precise measurement of isotope
ratios in rocks, minerals, fossils, gases and water. The hub of the lab is a Gas Source Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (GS-IRMS). The mass spectrometer is connected
through several interfaces to variable gas conduction and purification systems that
transfer gases produced from diverse materials into the mass spectrometer. The lab
enables measuring the stable isotope composition of: 1) oxygen in silicates, water,
carbonate and dissolved inorganic carbon and nitrogen; 3) nitrogen in dissolved
inorganic nitrogen and; 3) carbon in carbonate, dissolved inorganic carbon and
methane.