Permafrost Carbon and Nitrogen Lab (CarLa) focuses its efforts on the characterization of carbon and nitrogen vulnerability in thawing permafrost as well as carbon and nitrogen quantification and paleo-environmental reconstruction. The following parameters are recorded: bulk total carbon and nitrogen, total organic carbon and lipid biomarkers.

The TOC-L Shimadzu device measures total organic carbon (TOC).

By using this elemental analyzer (Euro EA 3000) it is possible to determine the concentration of nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen in solid samples. The substance to be analysed is digested by an oxidative combustion of samples packaged in tin foil. The combustion takes place explosively in a highly oxygen enriched He atmosphere. Gases that generated during the combustion are led by the carrier gas (helium) into the separation column. CO₂, H₂O, N₂ and SO₂ are separated chromatographically within …

The hydrochemistry lab at AWI provides wet chemistry analyses of surface and ground waters, snow, ice and permafrost pore water samples. We have optimized the workflow for thawing samples and extracting pore water sediment from sediments and soils for further analysis. We analyze concentrations of major dissolved species in cationic, anionic and total dissolved form, and perform analyses of organic carbon. Standard parameters, such as pH, alkalinity and electrical conductivity of samples are …

In our laboratory, the stable isotopes of the light elements carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) in continental geoarchives such as lake sediments and speleothems as well as in precipitation and surface water are measured. Stable isotopes are non-radioactive nuclides of an element with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons and thus different atomic masses. This results in different physical properties that can lead to a shift in the isotope ratios in a …

Processes related to the solvents extraction of snow and ice algae or particles are conducted in the Organic Microbial Geochemistry Lab. These processes are done in combination with ultrasonic bath, shaking, and solid phase extraction. Evaporation of organic extracts using nitrogen or argon gas, as well as various intermediate steps such as milling, acidification and filtration are also carried out in this lab. The subsequent analysis is done with the Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon Analyzer …

In the Organic Surface Geochemistry Lab (OSGLab) of the Geomorphology section, the smallest of molecules and isotopes open a door to the past. In the OSGLab we conduct research on regional differences of the causes and effects of past climate change and variations in biochemical cycles. In some projects, we can determine the "traces" of climate change down to a decade, in other projects biogeochemical processes are traced over millions of years.
In the laboratory, changes in the carbon …

An instrument (Elementar varioTOCselect) for measuring different carbon fractions (TOC, NPOC, TC, TIC) can be used for the analysis of both liquid and solid samples. The determination limit of the system is 1 ppm.