Laser spectrometry for stable isotope analysis of water : biomedical and paleoclimatological applications (original) (raw)
This thesis is one of the results of a research project at the Centrum voor IsotopenOnderzoek (CIO) of the University of Groningen. Dr. Harro Meijer started the project in 1993 and it was set going with some preliminary measurements at the University of Nijmegen, in cooperation with dr. ir. Nico Dam and prof. dr. Jörg Reuss. When a proposal was granted by the stichting Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), a color center laser and other equipment was purchased. Then dr. ir. Erik Kerstel joined the project and Jaap van der Ploeg, an electro-technicien, was put on the work as well. In 1997 I joined the team. Erik received a prestigeous grant as a Research Fellow from the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) and, after that ended, he received a permanent position within the CIO, thus ensuring the continuation of the project. The project aimed to develop a new method for measuring the relative stable isotope ratios of 18 O/ 16 O, 17 O/ 16 O and 2 H/ 1 H in water. During my contract, the research group was supposed to develop thr method up to a level where it could be employed to real-world applications. My work was scheduled to end after the application of the method to some interesting fields, namely biomedicine and paleoclimatology. The present thesis reports on our collective results which were achieved during my presence at the CIO, but could never have been completed without the work already done in the period before my arrival. Chapter 1 of this thesis provides some general information on the field of isotope physics as studied within the CIO. Chapter 2 gives detailed information on the current measurement setup and the underlying principles. In Chapter 3 an overview is given of the results of the measurements on biomedical (enriched) samples, while Chapter 4 shows the results of the measurements on a deep Greenland ice core. Chapter 5 describes a more exotic application of the technique. In Chapter 6, finally, an outlook of further expected developments is given.
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