High-precision helium isotope measurements in air

Abstract

Helium has two natural isotopes which have contrasted, and variable sources and sinks in the atmosphere (³He/⁴He_air = 1.382 ± 0.005 × 10⁻⁶). Variations in the atmospheric helium isotopic composition may exist below typical measurement precision thresholds (0.2 to 0.5%, 2σ). In order to investigate this possibility, it is necessary to be able to consistently measure helium isotopes in air with high precision (below 0.2% 2σ). We have created an air purification and measurement system that improves the helium isotope measurement precision. By purifying a large quantity of air at the start of a measurement cycle we can make rapid standard-bracketed measurements. Controlling the amount of helium in each measured aliquot minimizes pressure effects. With this method we improve the standard errors by 2× over measuring the same amount of gas in a single step. Individual measurements have standard errors of 0.2 to 0.3% (2σ), with three repeat samples needed to reach 0.1% or better errors. The long-term reproducibility of our calibration sample is 0.033% (2σ).