Combination of sealed-tube decrepitation with continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry for carbon isotope analyses of CO2 from fluid inclusions in minerals

A method is presented to perform carbon isotope analyses of CO2 from fluid inclusions in minerals using decrepitation by the sealed tube method followed by cryogenic separation of the resultant CO2 in a high-vacuum line, coupled via a GasBench II to a DELTA V isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The proposed method greatly reduces the sample size and the laboratory time without compromising the precision of the results.