Isotope-ratio mass spectrometry isotopic make up of the sample is obtained. For example, carbon isotope ratios are measured relative to the international standard for C. The C standard is produced from a fossil belemnite found in the Peedee Formation, which is a limestone formed in the Cretaceous period in South Carolina, U.S.A. The fossil is referred to as VPDB (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite) and has C:C ratio of 0.0112372. Oxygen isotope ratios are measured relative the standard, V-SMOW (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water). It is critical that the sample be processed before entering the mass spectrometer so that only a single chemical species
Aluminium number is 13. Of aluminium isotopes, only one is stable: Al. This is consistent with the fact aluminium's atomic number is odd. It is the only isotope that has existed on Earth in its current form since the creation of the planet. It is essentially the only isotope representing the element on Earth, which makes aluminium a mononuclidic element and practically equates its standard atomic weight to that of the isotope. Such a low standard atomic weight of aluminium has some effects on the properties of the element (see below). All other isotopes are radioactive and could not have survived;