文摘
A technological development is described through which the stable carbon-, oxygen-, and nonexchangeable hydrogen-isotopic ratios (未13C, 未18O, 未2H) are determined on a single carbohydrate (cellulose) sample with precision equivalent to conventional techniques (未13C 0.15鈥? 未18O 0.30鈥? 未2H 3.0鈥?. This triple-isotope approach offers significant new research opportunities, most notably in physiology and medicine, isotope biogeochemistry, forensic science, and palaeoclimatology, when isotopic analysis of a common sample is desirable or when sample material is limited.