Biogeochemistry laboratory

The laboratory mainly supports the research groups “Biogeochemistry” and “Ecology and Nature Management”, but performs analyses for the entire institute.

Respirocond (Nordgren AB): a facility for concurrent measurement of respiration from 48 microcosms incubated at two temperatures - total 96 samples

The laboratory has a long record analyzing soil and soil solution, deposition, organic matter and plant and faunal biomass for a range of parameters including carbon, macro- and micronutrients as well as trace elements. These samples are collected in campaigns or continuously from a range of field experiments and long-term ecosystem monitoring sites (https://ign.ku.dk/om/kort-over-langsigtede-feltforsoeg/). Soil, water and biomass samples for BSc and MSc theses are also analyzed in the laboratory.

The laboratory regularly participates in the ICP Forests Interlaboratory Test Program on plant materials, soil solution, deposition, and soil matrices to ensure and monitor the analytical performance of the laboratory.

The analytical facilities include devices for pretreatment of biomass and soil samples (drying, sieving and grinding) as well as a range of analytical platforms for determination of carbon, organic matter, macro- and micronutrients and trace elements in biomass, soil and water matrices. The laboratory includes soil greenhouse gas exchange facilities (CO2, CH4, N2O) with the option to manipulate soil temperature and moisture.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Pretreatment: Filtration (0.45 µm) and conservation
  • pH, conductivity, alkalinity
  • Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total N
  • NH4-N, NO3-N, PO4-P
  • Cl-, NO3-, SO42-
  • B, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, Cd, Tl, Pb
  • Hg after addition of bromide

 

  • Pretreatment: Drying (55°C), grinding, microwave digestion
  • Water content (105°C)
  • Ash content/loss on ignition (LOI) (550°C)
  • Leaf/needle weight
  • Total C, Total N
  • B, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, Cd, Tl, Pb
  • Hg after addition of bromide
  • Si after extraction

 

 

 

  • Pretreatment: Drying (55°C), sieving (2 mm), grinding
  • Water content (105°C)
  • LOI (550°C)
  • Total C, Total N
  • Total inorganic C (carbonates) - the difference in total C before and after treatment with HCl
  • C and N extraction in K2SO4 (fumigation for microbial biomass C and N)
  • pH in 0.01 M CaCl2 ext. or water
  • Exchangeable cations (NH4NO3; BaCl2), Na, K, Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Al
  • Cation exchange capacity (CEC)
  • Oxalate extractable Al, Fe and P
  • Microwave-assisted aqua regia extraction
  • PO4-P in 0.1 M H2SO4 extracts
  • NH4-N, NO3-N in 0.1 M and 1 M KCl extracts

 

 

  • CO2 flux from incubated soil
  • CO2, CH4, N2O concentrations in air with incubated soil     

 

Instruments:

  • Metrohm 855 Autotitrator
    pH, conductivity, titrations

  • Metrohm 930 Compact IC
    Anions by ion chromatography, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-

  • Thermo iCAP Qc with ESI FAST valve and ESI SC4 DX autosampler
    Elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP-MS

  • Seal Analytical AA500 Autoanalyzer
    Segmented flow analysis of NO3--N, NH4+-N and PO43--P

  • Shimadzu TOC-V CPH Total Organic Carbon Analyzer with TN unit
    DOC and total N in liquid samples (water and extracts)

  • Thermo Scientific Flash 2000 CN-analyzer
    Determination of total C, total inorganic C and total N in milled samples (solids)

  • Respicond Respirometer (Nordgren Innovations, Umeå, Sweden)
    Soil temperature-controlled CO2 flux analysis

  • LGR, UGGA Portable Gas Analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2, CH4 and H2O

  • LGR, mUGGA Portable Gas Analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2, CH4 and H2O

  • LI-COR LI-8100GGA Trace gas Analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2 and H2O

  • LI-COR LI-7810 Trace gas analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2, CH4 and H2O

  • LI-COR LI-7820 Trace gas analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of N2O and H2O

  • AERIS Ultra CO2/N2O/H2O Trace gas analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2, N2O og H2O

  • AERIS Ultra CH4/C2H6/H2O Trace gas analyzer
    Gaseous concentrations of CO2, C2H6 og H2O

Facilities:

  • Milli-Q Integral 3 water supply
  • Savillex DST-1000 Acid Destillation
  • Anton Parr Microwave oven Multiwave GO
  • Mettler-Toledo Micro balance XP6
  • Retsch SM2000, cutting mill
  • Retsch PM400, planetary mill
  • Retsch MM400, micro mill
  • Fritsch – Pulverisette 7, planetary micro mill