Scientific program 02

Triple oxygen isotopes

Developing high-precision methods and process-based applications for oxygen-isotope anomalies in atmospheric and environmental systems.

Program overview

Scientific rationale

Triple oxygen isotope analysis adds information beyond conventional δ¹⁸O and δ¹⁷O measurements by resolving departures from a reference mass-dependent relationship.

The laboratory has contributed to analytical techniques for atmospheric CO₂ and has applied Δ¹⁷O to atmospheric transport, stratospheric influence, carbon-cycle exchange, nitrate chemistry, and geological materials.

Research questions

Questions guiding the program

How can analytical accuracy and interlaboratory comparability be improved?
Which isotope-exchange processes control atmospheric CO₂ Δ¹⁷O?
How can isotope anomalies separate stratospheric, biospheric, hydrological, and oxidation influences?
How can atmospheric methods be transferred cautiously to geological archives?

Selected publications

Starting points in the literature

Browse publications by theme →

SelectedAnalytical Chemistry · 2013

Oxygen Isotope Exchange between O2 and CO2 over Hot Platinum: An Innovative Technique for Measuring Δ17O in CO2

A selected analytical-method paper with Mao-Chang Liang as a coauthor.

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SelectedScientific Reports · 2015

Oxygen anomaly in near surface carbon dioxide reveals deep stratospheric intrusion

PI-led application of atmospheric CO₂ Δ¹⁷O.

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SelectedAerosol and Air Quality Research · 2017

Spatiotemporal variability of oxygen isotope anomaly in near surface air CO2 over urban, semi-urban and ocean areas in and around Taiwan

PI-led regional characterization.

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SelectedScientific Reports · 2017

Oxygen isotope anomaly in tropospheric CO2 and implications for CO2 residence time in the atmosphere and gross primary productivity

PI-led carbon-cycle application.

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Resources

Data and methods will be linked as they are prepared for public release.

Data roadmap Methods roadmap