Isotope Geochemistry

3 credits · Graduate

This course will cover the origins, development and applications of isotope geochemistry, a field that uses variability in the abundance of naturally-occurring isotopes to study elemental cycling in nature. The course will begin with an overview of fundamentals: what are isotopes, and how are they fractionated by chemical reactions? It will then move into specific applications spanning geology, ecology, hydrology and even medicine. It will culminate with a segment on techniques for measuring isotopic ratios in natural samples.