Measuring N–NH4 in marine, estuarine and fresh waters: An adaptation of the ammonia diffusion method for samples with low ammonium concentrations

We present a method for measuring ¹⁵N–NH₄⁺ in marine, estuarine and fresh waters. The advantage of this method is that it is broadly applicable to all types of water and it allows measurements in samples with lower ammonium concentrations than has previously been possible. The procedure is a modification of the ammonia diffusion method and uses large sample volumes (often 4 l) to obtain sufficient N for isotope ratio mass spectrometric analysis. Large volume samples have not previously been used with the diffusion procedure because isotopic fractionation occurs due to incomplete recovery of ammonium. However, the method we present accounts for this fractionation and allows precise correction of measured δ¹⁵N values.