Isotopes and the Natural Environment

99 Pages·2020·5.768 MB·English

by  Paul Alexandre

Paul Alexandre
Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences,
Geography and Environment
The Springer Textbooks series publishes a broad portfolio of textbooks on Earth Sciences,
Geography and Environmental Science. Springer textbooks provide comprehensive introduc-
tions as well as in-depth knowledge for advanced studies. A clear, reader-friendly layout and
featuressuchasend-of-chaptersummaries,workexamples, exercises,andglossarieshelpthe
reader to access the subject. Springer textbooks are essential for students, researchers and
applied scientists.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15201
Paul Alexandre
Isotopes and the Natural
Environment
123
PaulAlexandre
Geology Department
Brandon University
Brandon,MB, Canada
TheInstructors’Solution Manual canbedownloaded from https://springer.com/9783030336516.
ISSN 2510-1307 ISSN 2510-1315 (electronic)
SpringerTextbooks inEarth Sciences, GeographyandEnvironment
ISBN978-3-030-33651-6 ISBN978-3-030-33652-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33652-3
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialis
concerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnot
imply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsand
regulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbookarebelieved
tobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,
expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
To my wife, for all she’s taught me.
Preface
Thisbookispartiallyderivedfrom—andbasedupon—acoursebythesamenamethatIused
todeliveratQueen’sUniversityinCanada.ItwasacoursethatIlovedteaching,butitwasnot
always very straightforward for students: they found it at first intimidating (Isotopes? What’s
that?), then complex, then downright difficult. However, by the end of the course each and
every student learned to appreciate the significance and importance of isotopes when used as
an investigative tool in the natural sciences.
To help students recognise the importance of isotopes in the natural sciences, I devised a
simple game, in the form of a bet. At the very beginning of the semester, during my intro-
ductory lecture, I will explain that isotopes are applicable to absolutely every branch of the
naturalsciences.ThenIwillofferthemthebet(orwasitabait?):Ifastudentmanages,bythe
end of the semester, to find an example, any example, of a field belonging to the natural
scienceswhereisotopesarenotofanyuse,havenever beenofanyuse,andlikelywillnever
beofanyuse,thatstudentwillreceivea100%markforthecourse;thisisuponconditionthat
the example is well substantiated.
Students invariably accepted the bet: they were certain that there must be something out
therethatisnot,inanyway,relatedtoisotopes.Justasinvariably,nostudenteverclaimedthe
prize. When I reminded them of our bet, during the last lecture, and invited them to step
forwardandattemptit,theyruefullyrepliedthatthereisnowaytheycanwin(andsometimes
even hinted that the bet was not fair). As they put it, well, everything material is made of
isotopes and these isotopes constantly change (through fractionation or disintegration),
meaningthat every processthat hasaffecteda material object will bereflected intheisotopic
composition of that object.
Thisis,inanutshell,thetopicandthemessageofthisbook.Isotopesareinabsolutelyany
material object, from a very simple life-form to the entirety of planet Earth and, of course,
beyond.Thinkofitforasecond:eachtimeyoubreathe(includingrightnowasyoureadthese
words),oxygenisotopesfromtheairfractionate(changeisotopiccomposition)inyourlungs.
When you are in the street and it rains or snows, hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in the water
fractionate.Importantly,theextentoffractionationandthefactorsaffectingitarewellknown
and understood: if we measure the isotopic composition of an object (the air, the rain water),
we can have a very clear idea of the processes that affected it and, significantly, the physical
and chemical conditions at which these processes occurred.
Thebookbeginsbyexplainingwhatisotopes areandhowtheyareaffectedbyanysortof
processesandbythepassageoftime.Wewillthenbrieflyvisitthelaboratoryandhaveaquick
lookathowisotopiccompositionsaremeasuredandreported.Afterthis,letthefunbegin:we
will visit plenty of examples, from a variety of natural sciences fields, of applications of
isotopes as an investigative tool. These will vary from the geosphere (geology, or the rock
realm), tothehydrosphere, theatmosphere(with awordortwoabout climate change),tothe
biosphere (animals and plants), and to human health and human evolution and history.
However, allow me a word of caution: it is absolutely impossible to include examples of
every possible use of isotopes as an investigative tool in this introductory and general book.
Such a task would run into thousands of pages and would be, ultimately, unreadable. Let us
vii
viii Preface
rather settle on a lighter approach, picking things up here and there as we go, with a few
simple and straightforward examples, making everything easy to understand and helping you
appreciate the big picture, namely, do not try that bet!
A word of recognition: I have been momentously helped on the way by countless people.
Credit goes to my family, who have been very patient and helpful; to my colleagues, for all
theirsupport,andtotheSpringereditorialboard,forallthepracticaladviceandhelp,butalso
for their support and understanding. To all of these, thank you!
Brandon, Canada Paul Alexandre
July 2019
Contents
Part I Theory and Methodology of Isotopes
1 Theory of Isotopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Nature and Formation of Isotopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Isotope Fractionation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Radiogenic Disintegration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Analytical Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Mass Spectrometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Accessories and Add-ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 Sample Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Part II Applications of Isotopes in the Natural Environment
3 Stable Isotopes and the Hydrosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1 The Importance of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Water on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3 Fractionations During Evaporation and Condensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.4 Rayleigh Distillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.5 Effects of Evaporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6 Isotope Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4 The Solid Earth: Isotope Geochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1 Stable Isotopes and Fluids Interacting with Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Geochronology and the Timing of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3 Radiogenic Isotopes and Earth’s Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5 The Biosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.1 The Complexity of the Biosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2 Plants Respiration and Carbon Fixation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.3 Animal Ecology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.3.1 Food Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.3.2 Paleoecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.3.3 Migration Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ix
x Contents
6 Atmosphere and Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.1 Isotopes and the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.2 Isotopes and Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7 Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1 Isotopes in the Human Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.2 Fractionation in the Human Body. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.3 You Are What You Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.4 Measuring the Total Energy Expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
7.5 Helicobacter Pylori and Ulcer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
7.6 Don’t Cheat! We Will Catch You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
8 Archaeometry and Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.1 What Is Archaeometry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.2 Stonehenge and Population Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.3 Carbon Dating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.3.1 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.3.2 Limitations of the Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.3.3 Example: Populating Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
8.4 Diet Evolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
8.5 Soil Erosion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9 Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
9.1 What Is Isotopic Forensics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
9.2 The Origin of Bottled Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
9.3 Wine Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9.4 Illicit Drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.5 Unknown Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.6 Counterfeit Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Appendix A ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 83
References .... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 91
Index ... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 93