Stable Isotope Geochemistry

9 units (3-0-6) | second term

An introduction to the principles and applications of stable isotope systems to earth science, emphasizing the physical, chemical and biological processes responsible for isotopic fractionation, and their underlying chemical-physics principles. Topics include the kinetic theory of gases and related isotopic fractionations, relevant subjects in quantum mechanics and statistical thermodynamics, equations of motion of charged particles in electrical and magnetic fields (the basis of mass spectrometry), the photochemistry of isotopic species, and applications to the earth, environmental and planetary sciences. Taught in odd years; alternates with Ge 140 b.