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 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 …

A ThermoFisher Delta-V Mass Spectrometer has been purchased in 2015 for carbon and nitrogen isotope analytics of sediment and organic matter samples. This method is mainly employed for ecological research questions in the terrestrial Arctic realm (Siberia, Canada, Alaska). The ThermoFisher Delta-V Mass Spectrometer comprises a ConFlo IV gas mixing system and a Flash EA 2000 Autosampler and Elemental Analyzer for the measurement of stable C and N isotope composition.
For this method, sediment …

We use a PDZ Europa 2020 Mass Spectrometer (MS-2020; now supplied by Sercon Ltd., UK) with a coupled self-constructed laser fluorination line for analyzing stable oxygen isotopes in biogenic silica samples (diatoms, radiolaria, sponge spicules). Our research focuses mainly on Arctic lake systems. For measuring stable oxygen isotopes in biogenic silica, a sediment sample undergoes several preparation steps including wet chemistry and heavy liquid separation to achieve a pure opal sample (> 97% …

The ISOLAB FACILITY of the AWI in Potsdam develops and utilizes stable H, O, C, N isotope methods to decipher Quaternary environmental change in polar regions of both hemispheres.
The Laboratory for Stable Isotopes at AWI Potsdam does research in the Polar Regions of both hemispheres on natural materials such as water, ice, organic matter from soils and sediments and biogenic opal (i.e. diatoms). We use analyses on stable oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen isotopes to reconstruct the …

For analyzing hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of water in solids, liquids or the vapor phase, the CRDS technique (Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy, Fa. Picarro Inc.) is used. This technique is field deployable, and may be used for micro amounts of water, as it needs only a few μl per injection. The ISOLAB FACILITY of the AWI in Potsdam is equipped with five cavity ring down spectrometers operating in different measuring modes. Two devices are located at joint MPI-AWI Isotope Lab in Yakutsk and …

Three Finnigan MAT Delta-S Mass Spectrometers are used for Stable Water Isotope Analytics (δ¹⁸O, δD) in the Stable Isotope Laboratory at AWI Potsdam since many years. The widely identical mass spectrometers are coupled with two equilibration units each to measure hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of water and ice samples. The equilibration technique uses thermally constant GFL water shaking baths units. Hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of water and ice samples are measured from the same aliquot (ca. 3 …

The micropaleontology lab is equipped to conduct morphological analyses including extraction, microscopic preparation and taxonomic investigations of microfossils from terrestrial plants e.g. pollen grains and aquatic organisms e.g. diatom valves and chironomids from lake sediment archives or permafrost deposits. Microfossil analyses are used to investigate spatial and temporal changes and environmental reconstructions in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems.
The extraction of microfossil remains …

The palaeogenetics lab is a part of the larger molecular genetic facility specialized to analyse ancient sedimentary DNA and is placed in a separate building apart from the modern and recent environmental lab and Post-PCR areas. In the palaeogenetics lab we analyse ancient DNA from sediment cores (lakes or marine archives) or permafrost deposits.
We apply DNA metabarcoding and metagenomics (shotgun and hybridisation capture) to investigate spatial and temporal biodiversity with the aim of …

We observe and quantify the modern and past state of terrestrial and submarine permafrost and predict its future transformation in a changing climate. We measure long-term hydroclimate and ground temperatures, study water and energy balance, use remote sensing to quantify thaw, and model past, current, and future permafrost. We employ geophysics, quantify fluxes from permafrost thaw and coastal erosion, and determine greenhouse gas and biogeochemical fluxes. We reconstruct periglacial …