Stable carbon isotopes

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Carbon in nature exists in oxidized (i.e., CO2 and carbonates), elemental (i.e., graphite and diamond), and reduced (i.e., methane and organic matter]) forms. Carbon has two stable isotopes: the light isotope 12C (abundance: 98.9%, mass: 12.000000 amu) and the heavy isotope 13C (abundance: 1.1%, mass: 13.003355 amu). Since the mass of 13C is higher than the mass of 12C, the carbon isotopes are fractionated by chemical and biological processes. In general, 12C is strongly partitioned into organic matter (reduced form) while the heavy isotope is concentrated in the oxidized forms of carbon.