Dataset: Brault 2014 - Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes

Name: Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes from sperm whale dentin from the UC-Santa Cruz labs of P. Koch and M. McCarthy (Sperm Whale SI Ratios project)
Published: 2016-08-01
Keywords: biota, oceans

Cite This Dataset

Project:

A novel approach for evaluating temporal and spatial changes in trophic structure of the mesopelagic eastern Pacific (Sperm Whale SI Ratios)

Principal Investigator:

Paul L. Koch (University of California-Santa Cruz, UCSC)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Matthew D. McCarthy (University of California-Santa Cruz, UCSC)

Student:

Emily K. Brault (University of California-Santa Cruz, UCSC)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Nancy Copley (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version Date:

2016-08-01

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes from sperm whale dentin from the UC-Santa Cruz labs of P. Koch and M. McCarthy (Sperm Whale SI Ratios project)

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Description

Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen isotope values of raw and decalcified dentin from a sperm whale tooth were measured to determine the effects of decalcification and the accuracy of untreated dentin results.The sperm whale tooth came from the California Current System.

Related Reference:
All sampling and analytical information are supplied in: Brault EK, Koch PK, Gier E, Ruiz-Cooley RI, Zupcic J, Gilbert KN, McCarthy MD (2014) Effects of decalcification on bulk and compound-specific nitrogen and carbon isotope analyses of dentin. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 28: 2744-2752.

Methods & Sampling

Materials and methods for analysis are described in detail in the Brault et al (2014). Briefly, a homogenized sample of sperm whale dentin was split into 20 sub-samples. Ten received "Conventional" extractraction (decalcification with 0.5N HCl, rinsing with water to neutrality, freeze-drying) and ten were not treated ("Raw") before stable isotope and elemental analysis by with an elemental analyzer coupled to a gas source, isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer. Carbon isotope values are reference to V-PDB; nitrogen isotope values are referenced to AIR. Mass and drift corrections were performed by analysis of gelatin standard replicates during each instrument session. Standard deviations for replicate analyses of gelatin were <0.1‰ for both δ13C and δ15N values. The standard deviations for molar C:N ratio was <0.01%. n.d., not determined.

Data Processing Description

BCO-DMO Processing:

- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date, reference information
- renamed parameters to BCO-DMO standard

Data Files

File
bulk_CN.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 610 bytes) MD5:77de9d38a1b0d7fd41db200ff71217d3 Primary data file for dataset ID 652931

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1155728

Deployments

Deployment	Synonyms	Start Date	Platform	Investigator
lab_UCSC_Koch		2012-03-01	UCSC		data info

Instruments

Elemental Analyzer

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

These samples were analyzed for bulk delta-13C and delta-15N values in the Stable Isotope Lab at University of California at Santa Cruz on a EA 1108 elemental analyzer (Carlo Erba, Milan, Italy) coupled to a Thermo Finnigan DeltaPlus XP isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, Bremen, Germany).

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Elemental Analyzer

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/LAB01/

Generic Description:

Instruments that quantify carbon, nitrogen and sometimes other elements by combusting the sample at very high temperature and assaying the resulting gaseous oxides. Usually used for samples including organic material.

Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Thermo Finnigan DeltaPlus XP isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, Bremen, Germany)

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer

Acronym: IR Mass Spec; IRMS

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/LAB16/

Generic Description:

The Isotope-ratio Mass Spectrometer is a particular type of mass spectrometer used to measure the relative abundance of isotopes in a given sample (e.g. VG Prism II Isotope Ratio Mass-Spectrometer).

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
sample	Sample identification numer	alphanumeric	sample
method	Conventional extraction: decalcification with 0.5N HCl; rinsing with water to neutrality; freeze-drying; "Raw": not treated	unitless	treatment
d13C	delta 13 C. Isotope values are reported in conventional d-notation relative to the international standard V-PDB.	parts per thousand	d13C_bio
d15N	delta 15 N. Isotope values are reported in conventional d-notation relative to the international standard atmospheric N2.	parts per thousand	d15N_bio
molar_C_to_N	Molar Carbon to Nitrogen ratio	dimensionless (ratio)	C_to_N

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Database

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Dataset: Brault 2014 - Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes