Chromatographic separation of nitrogen, argon, and oxygen in dissolved air for determination of triple oxygen isotopes by dual-inlet mass spectrometry.

A chromatographic system was developed to separate oxygen from nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor mixture for the determination of precise isotopic ratio measurements of oxygen in dissolved air. This system separates oxygen not only quantitatively but also rapidly as well; typical oxygen separation takes about 30 min. Fractionation of oxygen between liquid and gas phase was found to be similar to that of earlier reports.