Isotope Geochemistry E-Book

William M. White

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Wiley Works
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1309

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry. Beginning with a brief overview of nuclear physics and nuclear origins, it then reviews radioactive decay schemes and their use in geochronology. A following chapter covers the closely related techniques such as fission-track and carbon-14 dating. Subsequent chapters cover nucleosynthetic anomalies in meteorites and early solar system chronology and the use of radiogenic isotopes in understanding the evolution of the Earth’s mantle, crust, and oceans. Attention then turns to stable isotopes and after reviewing the basic principles involved, the book explores their use in topics as diverse as mantle evolution, archeology and paleontology, ore formation, and, particularly, paleoclimatology. A following chapter explores recent developments including unconventional stable isotopes, mass-independent fractionation, and isotopic ‘clumping’. The final chapter reviews the isotopic variation in the noble gases, which result from both radioactive decay and chemical fractionations.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

About the companion website

Chapter 1: Atoms and nuclei: their physics and origins

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Physics of the nucleus

1.3 Radioactive decay

1.4 Nucleosynthesis

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 2: Decay systems and geochronology I

2.1 Basics of radioactive isotope geochemistry

2.2 Geochronology

2.3 The K-Ar-Ca system

2.4 The Rb-Sr system

2.5 The Sm-Nd system

2.6 The Lu-Hf system

2.7 The Re-Os system

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 3: Decay systems and geochronology II: U and Th

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Pb-Pb ages and isochrons

3.3 Zircon dating

3.4 U-decay series dating

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 4: Geochronology III: other dating methods

4.1 Cosmogenic Nuclides

4.2 Fission tracks

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 5: Isotope cosmochemistry

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Cosmochronology

5.3 Stardust and isotopic anomalies in meteorites

5.4 Oxygen isotope variations and nebular processes

5.5 Exposure ages of meteorites

Notes

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 6: Radiogenic isotope geochemistry of the mantle

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Isotope Geochemistry of the Earth's Mantle

6.3 Balancing Depleted Mantle and Crust

6.4 Mantle Plume Reservoirs

6.5 Geographic Variations in Mantle Isotopic Composition

6.6 The Subcontinental Lithosphere

6.7 U-Series Isotopes and Melt Generation

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 7: Radiogenic isotope geochemistry of the continental crust and the oceans

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Growth of the Continental Crust Through Time

7.3 Isotopic Composition of the Continental Crust

7.4 Other Approaches to Crustal Composition and Evolution

7.5 Subduction Zones

7.6 Radiogenic Isotopes in Oceanography

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 8: Stable isotope geochemistry I: Theory

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Notation and Definitions

8.3 Theory of mass dependent isotopic fractionations

8.4 Mass independent fractionation

8.5 Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in the hydrologic system

8.6 Isotope fractionation in the biosphere

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 9: Stable isotope geochemistry II: High temperature applications

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Equilibrium Fractionations Among Minerals

9.3 Stable Isotope Composition of the Mantle

9.4 Oxygen Isotopes in Magmatic Processes

9.5 Oxygen Isotopes in Hydrothermal Systems

9.6 Sulfur Isotopes and Ores

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 10: Stable isotope geochemistry III: Low temperature applications

10.1 Stable isotopes in paleontology, archeology, and the environment

10.2 Stable isotopes in paleoclimatology

10.3 The carbon cycle, isotopes, and climate

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 11: Unconventional isotopes and approaches

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Applications of isotopic clumping

11.3 Mass independent isotope fractionations

11.4 Isotopes of iron and molybdenum

11.5 Isotopes of copper and zinc

11.6 Isotopes of boron and lithium

11.7 Isotopes of magnesium and calcium

11.8 Silicon Isotopes

11.9 Chlorine Isotopes

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Chapter 12: Noble gas isotope geochemistry

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Helium

12.3 Neon

12.4 Argon

12.5 Krypton

12.6 Xenon

12.7 Implications of Noble Gas Isotope Ratios for the Origin and Evolution of the Earth

Notes

References

Suggestions for Further Reading

Problems

Appendix: Mass spectrometry

A.1 Sample extraction and preparation

A.2 The mass spectrometer

A.3 Accelerator mass spectrometry

A.4 Analytical strategies

Notes

References

Problems

Index

End User License Agreement

Pages

xi

xiii

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

220

221

222

223

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

235

236

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

245

246

247

248

249

250

251

252

253

254

255

256

257

258

259

260

261

262

263

264

265

266

267

268

269

270

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

280

281

282

283

284

285

286

287

288

289

290

291

292

293

294

295

296

297

298

299

300

301

302

303

304

305

306

307

308

309

310

311

312

313

314

315

316

317

318

319

320

321

322

323

324

325

326

327

328

329

330

331

332

333

334

335

336

337

338

339

340

341

342

343

344

345

346

347

348

349

350

351

352

353

354

355

356

357

358

359

360

361

362

363

364

365

366

367

368

369

370

371

372

373

374

375

376

377

378

379

380

381

382

383

384

385

386

387

388

389

390

391

392

393

394

395

396

397

398

399

400

401

402

403

404

405

406

407

408

409

410

411

412

413

414

415

416

417

418

419

420

421

422

423

424

425

426

427

428

429

430

431

432

433

434

435

436

437

438

439

440

441

442

443

444

445

446

447

448

449

450

451

452

453

454

455

456

457

458

459

460

461

462

463

465

466

467

468

469

470

471

472

473

474

475

476

477

478

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Preface

Begin Reading

List of Illustrations

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.4

Figure 1.5

Figure 1.6

Figure 1.7

Figure 1.8

Figure 1.9

Figure 1.10

Figure 1.11

Figure 1.12

Figure 1.13

Figure 1.14

Figure 1.15

Figure 1.16

Figure 1.17

Figure 1.18

Figure 1.19

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Figure 2.4

Figure 2.5

Figure 2.6

Figure 2.7

Figure 2.8

Figure 2.9

Figure 2.10

Figure 2.11

Figure 2.12

Figure 2.13

Figure 2.14

Figure 2.15

Figure 2.16

Figure 2.17

Figure 2.18

Figure 2.19

Figure 2.20

Figure 2.21

Figure 2.22

Figure 2.23

Figure 2.24

Figure 2.25

Figure 2.26

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4

Figure 3.5

Figure 3.6

Figure 3.7

Figure 3.8

Figure 3.9

Figure 3.10

Figure 3.11

Figure 3.12

Figure 3.13

Figure 3.14

Figure 3.15

Figure 3.16

Figure 3.17

Figure 3.18

Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2

Figure 4.3

Figure 4.4

Figure 4.5

Figure 4.6

Figure 4.7

Figure 4.8

Figure 4.9

Figure 4.10

Figure 4.11

Figure 4.12

Figure 4.13

Figure 4.14

Figure 4.15

Figure 4.16

Figure 4.17

Figure 4.18

Figure 4.19

Figure 4.20

Figure 4.21

Figure 4.22

Figure 5.1

Figure 5.2

Figure 5.3

Figure 5.4

Figure 5.5

Figure 5.6

Figure 5.7

Figure 5.8

Figure 5.9

Figure 5.10

Figure 5.11

Figure 5.12

Figure 5.13

Figure 5.14

Figure 5.15

Figure 5.16

Figure 5.17

Figure 5.18

Figure 5.19

Figure 5.20

Figure 5.21

Figure 5.22

Figure 5.23

Figure 5.24

Figure 5.25

Figure 5.26

Figure 6.1

Figure 6.2

Figure 6.3

Figure 6.4

Figure 6.5

Figure 6.6

Figure 6.7

Figure 6.8

Figure 6.9

Figure 6.10

Figure 6.11

Figure 6.12

Figure 6.13

Figure 6.14

Figure 6.15

Figure 6.16

Figure 6.17

Figure 6.18

Figure 6.19

Figure 6.20

Figure 6.21

Figure 6.22

Figure 6.23

Figure 6.24

Figure 6.25

Figure 6.26

Figure 6.27

Figure 6.28

Figure 6.29

Figure 6.30

Figure 7.1

Figure 7.2

Figure 7.3

Figure 7.4

Figure 7.5

Figure 7.6

Figure 7.7

Figure 7.8

Figure 7.9

Figure 7.10

Figure 7.11

Figure 7.12

Figure 7.13

Figure 7.14

Figure 7.15

Figure 7.16

Figure 7.17

Figure 7.18

Figure 7.19

Figure 7.20

Figure 7.21

Figure 7.22

Figure 7.23

Figure 7.24

Figure 7.25

Figure 7.26

Figure 7.27

Figure 7.28

Figure 7.29

Figure 7.30

Figure 7.31

Figure 7.32

Figure 7.33

Figure 7.34

Figure 8.1

Figure 8.2

Figure 8.3

Figure 8.4

Figure 8.5

Figure 8.6

Figure 8.7

Figure 8.8

Figure 8.9

Figure 8.10

Figure 8.11

Figure 8.12

Figure 8.13

Figure 8.14

Figure 8.15

Figure 8.16

Figure 8.17

Figure 8.18

Figure 8.19

Figure 8.20

Figure 8.21

Figure 8.22

Figure 9.1

Figure 9.2

Figure 9.3

Figure 9.4

Figure 9.5

Figure 9.6

Figure 9.7

Figure 9.8

Figure 9.9

Figure 9.10

Figure 9.11

Figure 9.12

Figure 9.13

Figure 9.14

Figure 9.15

Figure 9.16

Figure 9.17

Figure 9.18

Figure 9.19

Figure 9.20

Figure 9.21

Figure 9.22

Figure 9.23

Figure 9.24

Figure 9.25

Figure 9.26

Figure 9.27

Figure 9.28

Figure 9.29

Figure 9.30

Figure 9.31

Figure 9.32

Figure 9.33

Figure 9.34

Figure 9.35

Figure 9.36

Figure 9.37

Figure 9.38

Figure 9.39

Figure 9.40

Figure 9.41

Figure 9.42

Figure 9.43

Figure 9.44

Figure 9.45

Figure 10.1

Figure 10.2

Figure 10.3

Figure 10.4

Figure 10.5

Figure 10.6

Figure 10.7

Figure 10.8

Figure 10.9

Figure 10.10

Figure 10.11

Figure 10.12

Figure 10.13

Figure 10.14

Figure 10.15

Figure 10.16

Figure 10.17

Figure 10.18

Figure 10.19

Figure 10.20

Figure 10.21

Figure 10.22

Figure 10.23

Figure 10.24

Figure 10.25

Figure 10.26

Figure 10.27

Figure 10.28

Figure 10.29

Figure 10.30

Figure 10.31

Figure 10.32

Figure 10.33

Figure 10.34

Figure 10.35

Figure 10.36

Figure 10.37

Figure 10.38

Figure 10.40

Figure 10.41

Figure 10.42

Figure 10.43

Figure 11.1

Figure 11.2

Figure 11.3

Figure 11.4

Figure 11.5

Figure 11.6

Figure 11.7

Figure 11.8

Figure 11.9

Figure 11.10

Figure 11.11

Figure 11.12

Figure 11.13

Figure 11.14

Figure 11.15

Figure 11.16

Figure 11.17

Figure 11.18

Figure 11.19

Figure 11.20

Figure 11.21

Figure 11.22

Figure 11.23

Figure 11.24

Figure 11.25

Figure 11.26

Figure 12.1

Figure 12.2

Figure 12.3

Figure 12.4

Figure 12.5

Figure 12.6

Figure 12.7

Figure 12.8

Figure 12.9

Figure 12.10

Figure 12.11

Figure 12.12

Figure 12.13

Figure 12.14

Figure 12.15

Figure 12.16

Figure A.1

Figure A.2

Figure A.3

Figure A.4

Figure A.5

Figure A.6

List of Tables

Table 1.1

Table 1.2

Table 1.3

Table 2.1

Table 3.1

Table 3.2

Table 4.1

Table 4.2

Table 4.3

Table 5.1

Table 5.2

Table 6.1

Table 6.2

Table 8.1

Table 8.2

Table 9.1

Table 9.2

Table 9.3

Table 9.4

Table 9.5

Table 10.1

Table 11.1

Table 11.2

Table 12.1

Table 12.2

Table 12.3

Isotope Geochemistry

William M. White

Department of Earth & Atmospheric SciencesCornell UniversityIthica, New York, USA

This edition first published 2015 © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,

Registered office: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial offices: 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, USA

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book, please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author(s) have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

White, William M., 1948-

Isotope geochemistry/William M. White.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-65670-9 (pbk.)

1. Isotope geology. 2. Geochemistry. 3. Earth sciences. I. Title.

QE501.4.N9W55 2015

551.9— dc23

2014029372

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Cover image: L. Sue Baugh/Wild Stone Arts™ © 2002

Preface

Over the past half century or so, isotope geochemistry has touched virtually every subfield of the earth sciences, from petroleum exploration to paleontology, climatology, and study of the Earth's deep interior, the latter being one of my principal fields of interest. Consequently, nearly every earth scientist needs some exposure to, if not fluency in, isotope geochemistry. The intent of this book is to provide that fluency. It assumes a background knowledge of geochemistry more or less equivalent to that contained in my earlier book, Gecohemistry, also published by Wiley-Blackwell.

This text is based on a course in Isotope Geochemistry that I have taught at Cornell University for the past 25 years. It began as lecture notes, initially copied and handed out and later posted electronically on the Internet. The notes, and eventually the book draft, increased in length over the years and the book is now longer than I imagined it would be. That said, it remains an incomplete treatment of the topic. Although isotope geochemistry is a very small fraction of the range of human knowledge, I have come to realize that no single person can know everything about it, much less write it all down. In part, this is because of the velocity at which the field has expanded and continued to expand. When I began teaching this course, stable isotope geochemistry was restricted to the five “traditional” elements, H, C, N, O, and S; today it encompasses a fair fraction of the entire Periodic Table. Radiogenic isotope geochemistry and geochronology were restricted to K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and U-Th-Pb. Although I was involved in the early development of the field, I would have had to admit that Lu-Hf was more a curiosity than a useful tool; this was even truer of Re-Os. Data on cosmogenic isotopes beyond 14C was scarce and only a few decay products of extinct radionuclides had been identified in meteorites and, with the exception of 129Xe, none in the Earth. Mass independent fractionation was a laboratory curiosity and isotope “clumping” had yet to be explored. Except for helium, there was essentially no data on the isotopic composition of mantle noble gases. Thus, a good part of the book describes discoveries of the last 25 years. The rate of discovery is accelerating rather than decelerating and it is thrilling to think about how much we will learn in the next 25 years. It is, at the same time, intimidating, in part because some of what we now think to be true (including material in this book) will prove to be wrong and in part because it will be even more difficult for any one person to comprehend it all.

I am grateful to the students in my courses for asking questions that inspired me to expanding my own range knowledge and expertise and also for pointing out the inevitable errors in drafts of the book. Once posted on the Internet, readers around the world found the lecture notes and provided feedback as well. I am grateful to them (there are two many to list here). I would, however, like to specifically thank Jeff Vervoort, Kyle Trostle, Dave Graham, and Bill McDonough for their critical reading of late drafts of parts of the text. And thanks too, to the fine people at Wiley-Blackwell who will be working in the coming months to transform this typescript to an actual book.

Bill White.Ithaca, NYDecember, 2013

About the companion website

This book is accompanied by a companion website:

www.wiley.com/go/white/isotopegeochemistry

The website includes:

Powerpoints of all figures from the book for downloading

PDFs of tables from the book

Chapter 1

Atoms and nuclei: their physics and origins

1.1 Introduction

Isotope geochemistry has grown over the last 50 years to become one of the most important fields in the earth sciences as well as in geochemistry. It has two broad subdivisions: radiogenic isotope geochemistry and stable isotope geochemistry. These subdivisions reflect the two primary reasons why the relative abundances of isotopes of some elements vary in nature: radioactive decay and chemical fractionation.1 One might recognize a third subdivision: cosmogenic isotope geochemistry, in which both radioactive decay and chemical fractionation are involved, but additional nuclear processes can be involved as well.

The growth in the importance of isotope geochemistry reflects its remarkable success in attacking fundamental problems of earth science, as well as problems in astrophysics, physics, and biology (including medicine). Isotope geochemistry has played an important role in transforming geology from a qualitative, observational science to a modern quantitative one. To appreciate the point, consider the Ice Ages, a phenomenon that has fascinated geologist and layman alike for more than 150 years. The idea that much of the Northern Hemisphere was once covered by glaciers was first advanced by Swiss zoologist Louis Agassiz in 1837. His theory was based on observations of geomorphology and modern glaciers. Over the next 100 years, this theory advanced very little, other than the discovery that there had been more than one ice advance. No one knew exactly when these advances had occurred, how long they lasted, or why they occurred. Stable and radiogenic isotopic studies in the last 50 years have determined the exact times of these ice ages and the exact extent of temperature change (about 3°C or so in temperate latitudes, more at the poles). Knowing the timing of these glaciations has allowed us to conclude that variations in the Earth's orbital parameters (the Milankovitch parameters) and resulting changes in insolation have been the direct cause of these ice ages. Comparing isotopically determined temperatures with concentrations in bubbles in carefully dated ice cores leads to the hypothesis that atmospheric