College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Stable Isotope Paleo Environments Research Group
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SIL Services & Pricing

NOTE: Water analysis is temporarily suspended due to device repair/replacement. (Update – water analysis will resume June 2025!)

Sample preparations differ with sample type (solid, liquid, gas) and for each analysis. Proper preparation is critical for quality results and all samples must be properly prepared and ready for analysis. Review the following documents and contact the lab manager Suzanne Ankerstjerne before shipping samples:

Sample material not consumed during analysis is archived for 3 months from the date of submission and then discarded. For researchers within the United States, unused sample material can be returned if requested. Make this request during the submission process and include a prepaid return shipping label in your sample shipment. Additional fees may be incurred if samples are not prepared correctly. Before shipping any sample, contact us to ensure devices are operational and samples are prepared and packaged correctly.

This price list applies to internal (Iowa State University) and external education/research institutions. The corporate pricelist is also available upon request.

Sample

Analyses

Device

IRMS

Iowa State customers
Price per sample (USD)

External customers
Price per sample (USD)
Carbonate (CaCO3) 13C, 18O GasBench Delta V $11.00 $14.00
Water  2H, 18O   Picarro L2130-i Water Isotope
Analyzer (CRDS)		 $11.00 $14.00
$12.00 (submitted in autosampler vials)
DICwater 13C GasBench Delta XL Plus $11.00 $14.00
*Organic solids (Dual CN)
natural abundance, dried,
pulverized, homogeneous

13C, 15N
%C, %N 

 EA Costech  Delta XL Plus Natural abundance:
$11.00
Soils, Sediments, Filters, and Carbonates:
$13.00 		 Natural abundance:
$12.00
Soils, Sediments, Filters, and Carbonates:
$14.00
*Organic solids (CNS combined analysis)
natural abundance, dried,
pulverized, homogeneous

13C, 15N, 34S
%C, %N, %S 

 EA IsoLink Delta V Plus $25.00 $30.00
*Enriched/tracer organic solids
enriched in 13C or 15N, less than 20 atom%, dried, pulverized, homogeneous		 %C, %N, atom%
15N/14N or 13C/12C		 EA Costech  Delta XL Plus $13.00 $14.00
*Organic/inorganic
solids

2H, 18O 
NOTE: Only one element analyzed per sample

 TC/EA Delta XL Plus

$13.00 for 18O
Request quote for 2H

$16.00 for 18O
Request quote for 2H 
*Organic solids
natural abundance, dried,
pulverized, homogeneous

34S

 EA IsoLink Delta V Plus $15.00 Request quote

NOTE: If water samples are poisoned (e.g., HgCl2), an additional charge of $20 will be applied to your bill for waste disposal.
*All organic solids must be weighed and encapsulated prior to analysis

Additional Services:
Weighing/encapsulation of solids for EA or TCEA – $3/sample

Quality Assurance

1. We use international isotopic standards (NBS 19, NBS 18, VSMOW2, SLAP, IAEA-600, IAEA-CH-6, IAEA N1, IAEA N2, etc.) to place all samples on the appropriate isotope scale (e.g., VSMOW, VPDB). Click here for an assortment of example reports.

2. We report precision in terms of root–mean-square (RMSE) which combines the correction error with the deviation of the reference materials we use throughout each run.