Despite its popularity, cryogenic vacuum distillation was outperformed by the direct vapor equilibration method in terms of limited co-extraction of volatile organic compounds, rapid sample throughput, and near instantaneous returned stable isotope results. More research is now needed with other plant species, especially woody plants, to see how far the findings from this study could be extended.

Rationale:The stable isotope compositions of hydrogen and oxygen in water (δ 2 H and δ 18 O values) have been widely used to investigate plant water sources, but traditional isotopic measurements of plant waters are expensive and labor intensive.Recent work with direct vapor equilibration (DVE) on laser spectroscopy has shown potential to side step limitations imposed by traditional methods. Here, we evaluate DVE analysis of plants with a focus on spectral contamination introduced by organic compounds. We present 17 O-excess as a way of quantifying organic compound interference in DVE. Methods: We performed isotopic analysis using the δ 2 H, δ 18 O and δ 17 O values of water on an Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy (IWA-45EP OA-ICOS) instrument in vapor mode. We used a set of methanol (MeOH) and ethanol (EtOH) solutions to assess errors in isotope measurements. We evaluated how organic compounds affect the 17 O-excess. DVE was used to measure the isotopic signatures in natural plant material from Pinus banksiana, Picea mariana, and Larix laricina, and soil from boreal forest for comparison with solutions. Results: The 17 O-excess was sensitive to the presence of organic compounds in water. 17 O-excess changed proportionally to the concentration of MeOH per volume of water, resulting in positive values, while EtOH solutions resulted in smaller changes in the 17 O-excess. Soil samples did not show any spectral contamination. Plant samples were spectrally contaminated on the narrow-band and were enriched in 1 H and 16 O compared with source water. L. laricina was the only species that did not show any evidence of spectral contamination. Xylem samples that were spectrally contaminated had positive 17 O-excess values. Conclusions: 17 O-excess can be a useful tool to identify spectral contamination and improve DVE plant and soil analysis in the laboratory and in situ. The 17 O-excess flagged the presence of MeOH and EtOH. Adding measurement of δ 17 O values to traditional measurement of δ 2 H and δ 18 O values may shed new light on plant water analysis for source mixing dynamics using DVE.

RationaleHydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios (δ2H, δ17O, and δ18O values) are commonly used tracers of water. These ratios can be measured by isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (IRIS). However, IRIS approaches are prone to errors induced by organic compounds present in plant, soil, and natural water samples. A novel approach using 17O‐excess values has shown promise for flagging spectrally contaminated plant samples during IRIS analysis. A systematic assessment of this flagging system is needed to prove it useful.MethodsErrors induced by methanol and ethanol water mixtures on measured IRIS and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) results were evaluated. For IRIS analyses both liquid‐ and vapour‐mode (via direct vapour equilibration) methods are used. The δ2H, δ17O, and δ18O values were measured and compared with known reference values to determine the errors induced by methanol and ethanol contamination. In addition, the 17O‐excess contamination detection approach was tested. This is a post‐processing detection tool for both liquid and vapour IRIS triple‐isotope analyses, utilizing calculated 17O‐excess values to flag contaminated samples.ResultsOrganic contamination induced significant errors in IRIS results, not seen in IRMS results. Methanol caused larger errors than ethanol. Results from vapour‐IRIS analyses had larger errors than those from liquid‐IRIS analyses. The 17O‐excess approach identified methanol driven error in liquid‐ and vapour‐mode IRIS samples at levels where isotope results became unacceptably erroneous. For ethanol contaminated samples, a mix of erroneous and correct flagging occurred with the 17O‐excess method. Our results indicate that methanol is the more problematic contaminant for data corruption. The 17O‐excess method was therefore useful for data quality control.ConclusionsOrganic contamination caused significant errors in IRIS stable isotope results. These errors were larger during vapour analyses than during liquid IRIS analyses, and larger for methanol than ethanol contamination. The 17O‐excess method is highly sensitive for detecting narrowband (methanol) contamination error in vapour and liquid analysis modes in IRIS.