Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T05:28:09.541Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Using Models of Carbon Isotope Fractionation during Photosynthesis to Understand the Natural Fractionation Ratio

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

Brandon L Drake
Brandon L Drake*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Email: b.lec.drakc@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The fractionation correction b is used to correct for the fractionation of 14C by using information from 13C in samples. This value is assumed to have a value of 2, where the 14C/12C ratio is double that of the 13C/12C ratio. While natural and laboratory fractionation are usually not considered separately, this article explores the differential fractionation of 14C and 13C during the process of photosynthesis. Values of δ13Cp can be used to calculate Δ13Cp values, which in turn can be used to calculate Δ14Cp, the discrimination against 14CO2 during photosynthesis. Models can then be built of Δ14Cp/Δ13Cp, an approximation for the natural fractionation ratio. This approximation suggests that for C3 plants the ratio is ∼1.90 and for C4 plants the ratio is more variable. While error introduced by the natural fractionation is small, it is also possibly systematic, as b = 2.0 does not seem physiologically possible following these models of carbon fractionation during photosynthesis. The central aim of this study is to illustrate that b derives not from a natural constant, but rather from a variable natural process.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , 2014 , pp. 29 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Rousan, S, Pätzold, J, Al-Mogharabi, S, Wefer, G. 2004. Invasion of anthropogenic CO2 recorded in planktonic foraminifera from the northern Gulf of Aqaba. International Journal of Earth Sciences 93(6):1066–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon program. Radiocarbon 43(2A):355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cernusak, LA, Tcherkez, G, Keitel, C, Cornwell, WK, Santiago, LS, Knohl, A, Barbour, MM, Williams, DG, Reich, PB, Ellsworth, DS, Dawson, TE, Griffiths, HG, Farquhar, GD, Wright, IJ. 2009. Why are non-photosynthetic tissues generally 13C enriched compared with leaves in C3 plants? Review and synthesis of current hypotheses. Functional Plant Biology 36(3):199–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chollet, R, Vidal, J, O'Leary, MH. 1996. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase: a ubiquitous, highly regulated enzyme in plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 47:273–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craig, H. 1957. Isotopic standards for carbon and oxygen and correction factors for mass spectrometric analysis of carbon dioxide. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 12(1–2):133–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehleringer, JR, Cerling, TE, Helliker, BR. 1997. C4 photosynthesis, atmospheric CO2, and climate. Oecologia 112(3):285–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elsig, J, Schmitt, J, Leuenbergcr, D, Schneider, R, Eyer, M, Leuenberger, M, Joos, F, Fischer, H, Stocker, TF. 2009. Stable isotope constraints on Holocene carbon cycle changes from an Antarctic ice core. Nature 461(7263):507–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erez, J. 1978. Vital effect on stable carbon-isotope composition seen in foraminifera and coral skeletons. Nature 273(5659):199–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farquhar, GD. 1983. On the nature of carbon isotope discrimination in C4 species. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 10:205–26.Google Scholar
Farquhar, G, O'Leary, M, Berry, J. 1982. On the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination and intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 9(2):121–37.Google Scholar
Farquhar, GD, Ehleringer, JR, Hubick, KT. 1989. Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 40:503–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2009. Radiocarbon-dated destruction layers: a skeleton for Iron Age chronology in the Levant. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 28(324):255–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francey, B, Allison, C, Etheridge, D, Trudinger, C, Enting, I, Leuenberger, M, Lagenfelds, R, Michel, E, Steele, L. 1999. A 1000-year high precision record of δ13C in atmospheric CO2 . Tellus B 51(2):170–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, G, Woodborne, S, Pienaar, M. 2008. Rainfall control of the δ13C ratios of Mimusops caffra from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Holocene 19(2):251–60.Google Scholar
Hughen, KA, Overpeck, JT, Peterson, LC, Anderson, RF. 1996. The nature of varved sedimentation in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela, and its paleoclimatic significance. In: Kemp, AES, editor. Paleoclimatology and Paleooceanography from Laminated Sediments. London: Geological Society Special Publication No. 116. p 171–83.Google Scholar
Hughen, KA, Baille, MGL, Bard, E, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RL, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2004. Marine04 marine radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1059–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Indermühle, A, Stocker, TF, Joos, F, Fischer, H, Smith, HJ, Deck, B, Mastroianna, D, Tschumi, J, Blunier, T, Meyer, R, Stauffer, B. 1999. Holocene carbon-cycle dynamics based on CO2 trapped in ice at Taylor Dome, Antarctica. Nature 398(6723):121–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leavitt, SW, Long, A. 1988. Stable carbon isotope chronologies from trees in the Southwestern United States. Global Biochemical Cycles 2(3):189–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, JJ, McErny, ME, Pierce, S, Freudebthal, HD, Muller, WA. 1966. Tracer experiments in feeding littoral foraminifera. Journal of Protozoology 13(4):659–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lourantou, A, Lavrič, P, Köhler, J, Barnola, J-M, Paillard, D, Michel, E, Raynaud, D, Chappellaz, J. 2010. Constraint of the CO2 rise by new atmospheric carbon isotopic measurements during the last deglaciation. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 24: GB2015, doi:10.1029/2009GB003545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marino, BD, McElroy, MB. 1991. Isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 inferred from carbon in C4 plant cellulose. Nature 349(6305):127–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormac, FG, Baillie, MGL, Pilcher, JR, Brown, DM, Hoper, ST. 1994. δ13C measurements from the Irish oak chronology. Radiocarbon 36(1):27–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melander, L. 1960. Isotope Effects on Reaction Rates. New York: Ronald Press. 181 p.Google Scholar
O'Leary, MH. 1981. Carbon isotope fractionation in plants. Phytochemistry 20(4):553–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Leary, MH, Rife, JE, Slater, J. 1981. Kinetic and isotope effect studies of maize phosphoenpyruvate carboxylase. Biochemistry 20(25):7308–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ortiz, JD, Mix, AC, Rugh, W, Watkins, JM, Collier, RW. 1996. Deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera of the northeastern Pacific Ocean reveal environmental control of oxygen and carbon isotopic disequilibria. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta 60(22):4509–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Haflidason, H, Hajdas, I, Hatté, C, Heaton, TJ, Hoffman, DL, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Niu, M, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Staff, RA, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohling, EJ, Cooke, S. 2003. Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes in foraminiferal carbonate shells. In: Gupta, S, editor. Modern Foraminifera. New York: Kluwer Academic. p 239–58.Google Scholar
Smith, HJ, Fischer, H, Wahlen, M, Mastroianni, D, Deck, B. 1999. Dual modes of the carbon cycle since the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature 400(6741):248–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southon, J. 2011. Are the fractionation corrections correct: Are the isotopic shifts for 14C/12C ratios in physical processes and chemical reactions really twice those for 13C/12C? Radiocarbon 53(4):691–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streamer, M, McNeil, YR, Yellowlees, D. 1993. Photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation in zooxanthellae. Marine Biology 115(2):195–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, HA. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Robinson, SW. 1974. University of Washington GEOSECS North Atlantic carbon-14 results. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 23(1):87–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swart, PK. 1983. Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in scleractinian corals, a review. Earth-Science Reviews 19(1):51–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tcherkez, G, Farquhar, GD. 2005. Carbon isotope effect predictions for enzymes involved in the primary carbon metabolism of plant leaves. Functional Plant Biology 32(4):277–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tovar-Méndez, A, Rodríguez-Sotres, R, López-Valentín, DM, Muñoz-Clares, RA. 1998. Re-examination of the roles of PEP and Mg2+ in the reaction catalysed by the phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from leaves of Zea mays: effects of the activators glucose 6-phosphate and glycine. Biochemical Journal 332(3):633–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, Z, Kang, S, Jensen, CR, Liu, F. 2012. Alternate partial root-zone irrigation reduces bundle-sheath cell leakage to CO2 and enhances photosynthetic capacity in maize leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany 63(3):1145–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westaway, KC, Fang, YR, MacMiller, S, Matsson, O, Poirier, RA, Islam, SM. 2007. A new insight into using chlorine leaving group and nucleophile carbon kinetic isotope effects to determine substitute effects on the structure of SN2 transition states. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 111(33):8110–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigley, TML, Muller, AB. 1981. Fractionation corrections in radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 23(2):173–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar