A high-throughput system for boron microsublimation and isotope analysis by total evaporation thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Published 8 July 2013 Science Leave a Comment
Tags: chemistry, methods, paleo

RATIONALE
Research on the ocean carbon cycle is vitally important due to the projected impacts of atmospheric CO₂ on global temperatures and climate change, but also on ocean chemistry. The direct influence of this CO₂ rise on the seawater pH can be evaluated from the boron isotopic composition in biogenic carbonates; however, conscientious laboratory techniques and data treatment are vital in obtaining accurate and precise results. A rapid-throughput boron purification and Total Evaporation Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry method was developed for high accuracy and precision boron isotopic analysis for small (ng) sample sizes.

METHODS
An improved microsublimation method, in which up to 20 samples can be processed simultaneously under identical temperature conditions, was developed. Several tests have confirmed the viability of this technique. First, seawater and Porites coral samples were processed with H₂O₂ and the results compared with those obtained using microsublimation; second, the impact of various sublimation times was evaluated; and third, quantitative recovery was assessed using standard addition.

RESULTS
Microsublimation provides a valid method for the quantitative recovery and separation of boron from both major elements and organic matter under low-blank conditions. The close agreement of our results with published values validates the accuracy of the measurements. The isotopic ratio for SRM 951a boric acid isotopic standard was 4.0328 ± 0.0054 (2 STD, n = 25). The reproducibility of boron isotopic composition for standards including AE121, IAEA B-1 and an in-house coral standard UM-CP1 was ±0.68‰ (2 STD, n = 15), ±1.12‰ (2 STD, n = 24), and ±1.17‰ (2 STD, n = 14), respectively. The sample sizes were <1 ng for each measurement.

CONCLUSIONS
The developed method for preparing and measuring boron isotopic values in a variety of carbonate materials should facilitate the reconstruction of past ocean pH conditions with decadal-scale resolution.

Liu Y.-W., Aciego S. M., Wanamaker Jr. A. D. & Sell B. K., 2013. A high-throughput system for boron microsublimation and isotope analysis by total evaporation thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 27(15): 1705–1714. Article (subscription required).

Morphological changes in branchial mitochondria-rich cells of the teleost Paralichthys olivaceus as a potential indicator of CO2 impacts

Published 8 July 2013 Science Leave a Comment
Tags: biological response, fish, laboratory, morphology, physiology

We studied the morphological and biochemical changes of mitochondria-rich cells (MRCs) of a demersal teleost, Paralichthys olivaceus, during exposure to 0.98, 2.97 and 4.95 kPa pCO₂. The apical opening area of MRCs increased 2.2 and 4.1 times by 24 h exposure to 2.97 and 4.95 kPa pCO₂, respectively, while the cross-sectional area or density of MRCs did not change. Gill Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase activity more than doubled at 72 h and then returned to the pre-exposure level at 168 h in 0.98 kPa pCO₂, while it increased 1.7 times at 24 h at 4.95 kPa. These results indicate that the apical opening area of MRCs and the gill Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase activity may be used as an indicator of acute (up to 72 h), but not chronic, impacts of high (>1 kPa) seawater CO₂ conditions in P. olivacues. Limitations of those parameters as indices of CO₂ impacts are discussed.

Hayashi M., Kikkawa T. & Ishimatsu A., in press. Morphological changes in branchial mitochondria-rich cells of the teleost Paralichthys olivaceus as a potential indicator of CO2 impacts. Marine Pollution Bulletin. Article (subscription required).

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• Bridie Jabour
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 July 2013 17.34 AEST

Tony Abbott: ‘Business should not have to run the gauntlet twice.’ Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

A Coalition government would tie “red tape” reduction targets to senior public servants’ pay, establish a deregulation unit within the prime minister’s office and hand over most environmental regulation responsibilities to the states.

The opposition leader, Tony Abbott, announced the Coalition policy relating to productivity and regulation at KPMG’s Sydney offices on Monday.

In the 28-page document, the Coalition sets a target to reduce “red and green” tape by $1bn a year and will set aside at least two parliamentary sitting days to repeal legislation associated with “counter-productive” regulation.

A deregulation unit would be set up within the prime minister’s office to give ministers targets to reduce regulation within their units, with pay rises and bonuses for senior public servants being linked in part to the outcomes.

Examples in the document of regulation a Coalition government would get rid of include repealing the carbon tax and mining tax – policy already announced by the Coalition.

In a press conference, Abbott emphasised the proposal to create a single process for environmental approvals, abolishing the commonwealth level of approvals and leaving most of the environmental regulation to states.

“Business should not have to run the gauntlet twice,” he said.

“Yes, we do expect high environmental standards, but you shouldn’t have to run the gauntlet twice.

“Once you have demonstrated to one set of officials that you are going to meet high environmental standards, that should be enough.”

The policy document lists examples of “excessive red and green tape” but does not specifically say it will repeal all of the regulations mentioned.

In the examples are childcare laws which will require each worker to have an official qualification from next year, and the newly established Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission which was described in the document as duplicating reporting obligations.

“If we can reduce the burdens on business, we make it easier for them to employ, we make it easier for them to pay the kind of wages that the Australian public are entitled to expect,” Abbott said.

“That’s our job, to make it easier for the businesses of Australia to get on with their business of producing wealth and producing employment for the Australian people.”

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Shell’s state-of-the-art Olympus platform is preparing to journey to the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. (Shell)

A drilling hunch with its roots in the Jurassic period is paying off for Royal Dutch Shell, with a potential 100-million barrel oil find adding to the company’s bounty in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shell said Wednesday that its Vicksburg exploratory well encountered an estimated 500 feet of net oil pay. The well is five miles from the company’s Appomattox site, where Shell already has found 500 million barrels of potentially recoverable resources.

“This is a Jurassic-age reservoir that is more than 160 million years old that was deposited as desert dunes and now is sitting beneath the floor of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Mark Shuster, executive vice president of Shell Upstream Americas Exploration.

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He said Shell geologists were brainstorming about 15 years ago and came up with the idea of exploring to see whether they could access the Norphlet Play — a prolific onshore formation — in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“No one thought we would be able to find oil in this reservoir in the deep water,” Shuster said. “But we made the first forays into this play, and subsequently, other companies are coming along.”

Shell bought licenses in 2002 for the area where it drilled the Vicksburg and Appomattox wells.

It made its first oil discovery at Appomattox in 2009 and now is evaluating strategies for  going forward with development.

The Vicksburg discovery nearby raises the possibility of connecting the wells to make production more economic, Shuster said.

He said that the company probably will produce from multiple wells at Appomattox, regardless of further development on Vicksburg discoveries.

“The reason that Vicksburg is important is that it is another significant discovery and it is adjacent to Appomattox,” Shuster said. “What’s most surprising is that we found a resource base that is in the range of what we had expected, but at the higher end.”

The Vicksburg well is under nearly 7,500 feet of water and was drilled to a total depth of 26,385 feet, making it one of Shell’s deepest wells in the Gulf — with the attendant challenges of high pressures and well temperatures.

Study: Deep-water drilling expansion will strain workforce

But the discoveries have more than proved that the instincts of the geologists 15 years back were right on track.

“The Norphlet Play is a strong pillar of our portfolio,” Shuster said. “We have been out there since the early 2000s, exploring for oil in these deep plays. We are quite happy — we have had the Appomattox success and now this new Vicksburg success.”

Shell is operating the Vicksburg well with a 75 percent interest. Nexen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese national oil company CNOOC Ltd., owns the remaining 25 percent interest.

Transocean’s Deepwater Nautilus rig drilled the Vicksburg well.

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