ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most important methods to measure light stable isotopes in compounds that are of interest when investigating biogeochemical cycles and contaminated sites. A particular emphasis is given to methods for isotope analysis of specic compounds such as organic contaminants that rely on separation techniques such as gas chromatography. However, methods for analysis of bulk samples where the entire sample is analyzed without prior separation are covered as well. The general principles of the methods are outlined. For detailed procedures, the reader is referred to the specic publications and protocols developed by different laboratories. The procedures for calculation of isotope ratios from raw data of the instruments are also covered here although this is automatically performed by most software packages.
