Preparation of pollen for stable carbon isotope analyses

Differential diagenesis of the chemical components of pollen in sub-fossil records necessitates the isolation of a single `resistantʹ chemical component of pollen, prior to its isotopic analysis. As sporopollenin is particularly resistant to diagenesis and comprises typically 65%–80% of the pollen grain, it is a suitable component for this purpose. Conventional (acetylation) methods of pollen preparation for palynological studies are reliant on the use of carbon-bearing compounds which introduce large errors to the pollen carbon isotopic composition (δ13C). We present results from a novel non-carbon containing acid extraction technique to isolate sporopollenin. Using this technique we demonstrate that the δ13C signals in raw and processed pollen are highly correlated, but display an offset associated with the non-sporopollenin components.