Isotope Geochemistry

Provides a thorough and up-to-date overview of radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry

Now in its second edition, Isotope Geochemistry presents a comprehensive introduction to radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry. The first five chapters cover fundamentals including the physics of nuclei, radioactive decay, nucleosynthesis, geochronology, and the theory of stable isotope fractionation. The next chapter focuses on the isotope geochemistry of meteorites and their constraints on the formation of the solar system and the Earth. The subsequent three chapters cover radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry evolution of the Earth’s mantle and crust. Three more chapters are devoted to the Earth’s surface, the exogene, including the hydrologic system, the biosphere, and climate. A new chapter in this edition focuses on the use of isotopes in paleontology and archeology. The final chapter is devoted to the isotope geochemistry of the noble gases.

Illustrated in full color throughout, Isotope Geochemistry is intended primarily as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It is also intended as a reference for earth science professionals, reflecting the impact that isotope geochemistry has on virtually every aspect of the earth sciences, from climate change and geomorphology to geodynamics.

William M. White is Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. He is a fellow of the Geochemical Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, and the American Geophysical Union. He served as the founding editor of Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, and is the author of Geochemistry, also published by Wiley-Blackwell.

1: Atoms and Nuclei: Their Physics and Origins
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Physics of the nucleus
1.3 Radioactive Decay
1.4 Nucleosynthesis

2: Decay Systems and Geochronology I
2.1 Basics of Radioactive Isotope Geochemistry
2.2 Fundamentals of Geochronology
2.3 The K?Ar?Ca system
2.4 The Rb?Sr System
2.5 Rare Earth Decay Systems
2.6 The Re?Os?Pt System

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

4: Geochronology III: Other Dating Methods
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Cosmogenic Nuclides
4.3 Thermochronology

5: Fractionation of isotopes
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Notation, definitions, and standards
5.3 Theory of Equilibrium isotopic fractionations
5.4 Kinetic fractionation
5.5 Mass dependent versus mass dependent fractionation

6: Isotope Cosmochemistry
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Star Birth
6.3 Meteorites
6.4 Cosmochronology
6.5 Stardust
6.6 Isotopic variations in bulk meteorites
6.7 Cosmic ray exposure ages of meteorites

7: Isotope Geochemistry of the Mantle
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Composition of the Earths Mantle
7.3 Radiogenic isotopes in oceanic basalts
7.4 Inferences on mantle structure and evolution
7.5 The Subcontinental Lithosphere
7.6 U-Series Isotopes and Melt Generation

8: Isotope geochemistry of the continental crust
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Mechanisms of crustal growth
8.3 The earliest continental crust
8.4 The continental crust through time
8.5 Isotopic composition of the continental crust
8.6 Subduction Zones

9: Stable Isotopes in the solid Earth
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Equilibrium Fractionations Among Minerals
9.3 Geothermometry
9.4 Stable Isotope Composition of the Mantle
9.5 Oxygen Isotopes in Hydrothermal Systems
9.6 Sulfur Isotopes in magmatic and hydrothermal systems
9.7 Copper isotopes in ore deposits

10: Light Stable Isotopes in the exogene
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The hydrologic system
10.3 isotope ratios in the biosphere
10.4 isotope ratios in the atmosphere

11: Non-traditional stable and radiogenic isotopes in the exogene
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Radiogenic isotopes in the modern ocean
11.3 Stable isotope ratios of conservative elements
11.4 Stable isotope ratios of nutrient elements
11.5 Stable isotope ratios of transition metals

12: Paleoclimate, paleoceanography, and atmospheric history
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The Pleistocene Climate Record in Deep Sea Sediments
12.3 Isotopes in paleoceanography
12.4 Climate in the Cenozoic
12.5 Carbon isotopes, atmospheric carbon dioxide, and climate
12.6 Tracing the evolution of atmospheric oxygen

13: Life, Paleoecology, and Human History
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Isotopes in evolution
13.3 Isotopes and diet: you are what you eat
13.4 Paleoecology of grasslands
13.5 Paleoecology of the Pleistocene Tundra Steppe
13.6.1 Domestication of maize
13.7 The metallurgical revolution

14: Noble Gas Isotope Geochemistry
14.1 Introduction
14.1.1 Noble Gas Chemistry
14.2 Noble Gases in the Solar System
14.3 Helium
14.4 Neon
14.5 Argon
14.6 Krypton
14.7 Xenon
14.8 Implications of Noble Gas Isotope Ratios for the Origin and Evolution of the Earth
14.9 Noble gas constraints on formation and evolution of the Earth

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