Upgrading the Stable Isotope Laboratory (SIL) to analyse clumped isotopes as a new tool in geoscience in Sweden

The proposed investment of a state-of-the-art High-Resolution Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (HR-IRMS) aims to provide a timely update to the Stable Isotope Laboratory (SIL), located at Stockholm University’s Department of Geological Sciences.

SIL is the largest stable isotope facility in Sweden and has been at the international forefront of geoscientific and climate research.

The instrument, including necessary peripherals for sample preparation, will add the capability to measure ‘clumped isotopes’ at high precision, on carbonates and other material.

Clumped isotope analysis, in combination with traditional ´single´ isotope analysis, is a promising new method that allows the determination of the formation temperature of carbonate rocks and microfossils, simultaneously also providing other isotope data.

It provides a new means of reconstructing past sea surface temperatures from ocean sediment cores, circumventing a number of complications associated with ´single´ isotope analysis.

Other applications include ancient terrestrial climate reconstruction and determination of the formation temperature in rock forming processes.

Analyzing clumped isotopes is challenging for a variety of reasons, including low abundances and interference by other molecules.

The recently developed Thermo Fischer 253 Ultra HR-IRMS resolves these issues, allowing a greater precision than existing isotope ratio mass spectrometers. A HR-IRMS at SIL would be unique to Sweden and would be only the third such instrument within Europe.

As is already the case for existing isotope instruments operating at SIL, the instrument will be accessible to all researchers in Sweden interested in using and developing clumped isotope analysis, and will attract international collaborators.

The main application will be within paleoclimate and geological research, however a wide range of other scientific fields that use stable isotopes will also benefit, such as environmental sciences, ecology or archaeology.