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Skidmore College
Stable Isotope and Palæoclimate Analysis Laboratory

Gas Bench II

Gas Bench II

The SPA Lab is able to expand the applications of the mass spectrometer with the Thermo Scientific GasBench II universal on-line gas preparation system. The GasBench II system provides high-precision on-line isotope and molecular ratio determination of headspace gas, including water equilibration, carbonates, and atmospheric gases (e.g. CO2, O2/N2).  A series of nafion traps remove water and a GC column separates gases in time for analysis of isotopic composition largely free of interference.  With the use of shorter vials and a reference gas injection system, we (and other labs using this technique by Breitenbach and Bernasconi [2011]) have been able to attain nearly the precision and accuracy of a dual inlet system on a continuous-flow IRMS system.