GEO 388H Environmental Isotope Geochemistry - Spring 2005 Syllabus
Instructors:
Jay Banner, Department of Geological Sciences, banner@mail.utexas.edu, 471-5016
Bridget Scanlon, Bureau of Economic Geology, bridget.scanlon@beg.utexas.edu, 471-8241
Week of
Jan. 18
Topics
Reading
Introduction
Global element cycles
Jan. 25
Distribution and cycling of elements
How constant has the composition of seawater been?
Garrels & Mackenzie, Ch 4
Holland, Ch 9 and 9; Li
Light stable isotopes I: Principles, H-O-C systematics
Intro to stable isotopes, principles of isotope fractionation
Anderson & Arthur; Kyser
Faure and Messing
(F&M)05, Ch 26
Feb 1
Isotope fractionation; H-O isotopes in water vapor
Feb. 8*
H-O isotopes in the hydrologic cycle
Sheppard; Wehlan
Rayleigh distillation; H-O isotopes in the hydro cycle; Isotopes Banner & Hanson
in karst hydrology; C-O isotopes in ancient aquifers; Modeling
fluid-rock interaction
*Feb 8 class will be held in Geo 2.324 as part of karst workshop
Feb. 15
Modeling fluid-rock interaction; Groundwater evolution and
paleoclimate
Paleoclimate: DSDP and sea level history; speleothems
Musgrove 93
White & Chuma
Winograd et al.
Radiogenic isotopes I: Principles, Rb-Sr system
Feb. 22
Introduction to radiogenic isotopes
Trace-element behavior - modeling isotope mixing
and mass balance; analytical methods
Banner 04; F&M05, Ch 1-4
Banner 95; F&M05 Ch 4
Rb-Sr system: geochronology, crust-mantle evolution
F&M05 Ch 5; Banner 04
Goldstein & Jacobsen;
Banner 04
Franklyn; Muller;
Blum et al.; Miller
Banner et al. 96; Cooke 03
March 1
Sr in the hydrologic cycle: Evolution of surface water
March 8
1) Evolution of seawater; Chemostratigraphy; Tracing
dissolved ions in deep and shallow groundwater 2) Modeling
of fluid-rock interaction; Karst aquifers, soils, ecosystems
Carbon isotope systematics; March 10 - Midterm
March 15
Spring Break
March 22
Light stable isotopes II: H-O in vadose zone, evaporation,
diffusion, residence time, paleorecharge
Barnes & Allison; 1983;
1984; Tyler et al., 1996
Nitrogen; contamination sources, denitrification
Kendall and Aravena; Fogg
Radiogenic isotopes II: Cosmogenic isotopes, lanthanides, actinides
Vadose zone tracers, tritium, 36Cl, recharge rate, transport
March 29
processes (diffusion, dispersion), liquid vs. vapor flow,
preferential flow, uncertainty in age
Scanlon 92; Phillips 00;
Cook 94
1
Solomon & Sudicky, 91;
Solomon & Cook, 00;
Portniaguine, Szabo
April 5
Groundwater tracers; 3H, 3H/3He, 14C; age dating groundwater,
recharge estimation
April 12
Rare earth elements and Sm-Nd isotope system: applications to McLennan, de Baar,
the hydrologic and sedimentary cycles
Banner 04; Faure, Ch 9,
18, 19
U-Pb systematics and Pb in the environment
Dunlap et al 99
Uranium-series isotopes: Systematics and geochronology
F&M05, Ch 20
Ivanovich & Harmon
Musgrove et al. 01
U-series isotopes: Testing models for climate change,
Edwards et al. 97
groundwater evolution
Semester projects
April 19
April 26
May 3
Semester projects
General background reading:
Faure, G. and Mensing, T. (2005) Isotopes: Principles and Applications, for background in isotopes.
Drever, T. (1997) Geochemistry of Natural Waters, Chapters 1 and 2, for intro to aqueous geochemistry.
Ruddiman, W. F. (2000) Earth’s Climate: Past and Future. W.H. Freeman, New York.
Approximate problem set dates:
Prob set number
date handed out
date due
1
Jan 18
Feb 1
2
Feb 1
Feb 10
3
Feb 10
Feb 17
4
Feb 17
Feb 24
5
March 20
March 27
6
March 27
April 3
7
April 3
April 10
Readings:
Anderson T. F. and Arthur M. A. (1983) Stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon and their application to
sedimentologic and paleoenvironmental problems, in: Stable Istopes in Sedimentary Geology, SEPM
Short Course 10, 1-1 to 1-151, Soc. Econ. Paleontol. Mineral., Tulsa.
Banner, J. L. (2004) Radiogenic isotopes: Systematics and applications to Earth surface processes and
chemical stratigraphy, Earth Science Reviews 65, 141-194.
Banner, J. L., Musgrove, M., Edwards, R. L., Asmerom, Y., and Hoff, J. A., 1996, High-resolution
temporal record of Holocene groundwater chemistry: Tracing links between climate and hydrology.
Geology 24, 1049-1052.
Banner, J. L., 1995, Application of the isotope and trace element geochemistry of strontium to studies of
diagenesis in carbonate systems. Sedimentology 42, 805-824.
Banner J. L. and Hanson G. N. (1990) Calculation of simultaneous trace-element and isotopic variations
during water-rock interaction with applications to carbonate diagenesis. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta
54, 3123-3137.
Barnes, C. J., and G. B. Allison. 1988. Tracing of water movement in the unsaturated zone using stable
isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. J. Hydrol. 100:143-176.
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Besacier, F., Guilluy, R. Brazier, J., Chaudron, H., Girard, J. and Lamotte, A. (1997) Isotopic analysis of
C as a tool for comparison and origin assignment of seized heroin samples. Journ. Forensic Sci. 42,
429-433.
Blum, J. D., Erel, Y., and Brown, K. (1994) 87Sr/86Sr ratios of Sierra Nevada stream waters: Implications
for relative mineral weathering rates, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 57, p. 5019-5025.
Cole, J. (1996) Coral records of climate change: understanding past variability in the tropical oceanatmosphere, in: P. D. Jones, R. S. Bradley, and J. Jouzel, eds., Climatic variations and forcing
mechanisms of the last 2000 years, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 331-354.
Cook, P. G., I. D. Jolly, F. W. Leaney, and G. R. Walker. 1994. Unsaturated zone tritium and chlorine 36
profiles from southern Australia: Their use as tracers of soil water movement. Water Resour. Res.
30:1709-1719.
Dunbar, R., B. (1996) Eastern Pacific corals monitor El Nino/Southern Oscillation, precipitation, and sea
surface temperature variability over the past three centuries, in: P. D. Jones et al, eds., Climatic
variations and forcing mechanisms of the last 2000 years, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 373-405.
deBaar H.J.W., German C.R., Elderfield H. and van Gaans P. (1988) Rare earth element distributions in
anoxic waters of the Cariaco Trench. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52, 1203-1219.
Edwards, R. L., Cheng, H., Murrell, M. T., and Goldstein, S. J., 1997, Protactinium-231 dating of
carbonates by thermal ionization mass spectrometry: Implications for Quaternary climate change:
Science, v. 276, p. 782-786.
Fogg, G. E., D. E. Rolston, D. L. Decker, D. T. Louie, and M. E. Grismer. 1998. Spatial variation in
nitrogen isotope values beneath nitrate contamination sources. Ground Water 36:418-426.
Franklyn M.T., McNutt R.H., Kamineni D.C., Gascoyne M. and Frape S.K. (1991) Groundwater
87Sr/86Sr values in the Eye-Dashwa Lakes Pluton: Evidence for plagioclase-water reaction. Chem.
Geol. (Isot. Geosci. Sect.) 86, 111-122.
Goldstein S. J. and Jacobsen S. B. (1987) The Nd and Sr isotopic systematics of river-water dissolved
material: Implications for the sources of Nd and Sr in seawater. Chem. Geology (Isotop. Geosci.
Sect.) 66, 245-272.
Gallup, C. D., Edwards, R. L., and Johnson, R. (1994) The timing of high sea levels over the past
200,000 years: Science 263, p. 796-800.
Garrels R.M. and Mackenzie F.T. (1971) Evolution of Sedimentary Rocks, Norton, 397p.
Hemming, N. G. and Hanson, G. N. (1992) Boron isotope composition and concentration in modern
marine carbonates: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 537-543.
Hodell, D. A., Curtis, J. H., and Brenner, M., 1995, Possible role of climate in the collapse of Classic
Maya civilization: Nature, v. 375, p. 391-394.
Holland H. D. (1984) The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans, Princeton University
Press, 582 p.
Ivanovich and Harmon, R. S., eds. (1992) Uranium Series Disequilibrium: Applications to Environmental
Problems: Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2nd edn.
Jackson, R. B., Banner, J. B., Jobbágy, E. G., Pockman, W. T., Diana H. Wall, D. H., 2002, Changes in
carbon storage and ecosystem functioning with desertification and woody plant invasions, Nature
418, 623-626.
Kendall, C., and J. J. McDonnell, editors. 1998. Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology. Elsevier.
Kendall, C., and R. Aravena. 2000. Nitrate isotopes in groundwater systems. Pages 261-297 in P. G.
Cook and A. L. Herczeg, editors. Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology. Kluwer Acad.
Publishers.
Koch, P.L., Fogel, M.L. and Tuross, N. (1994) Tracing the diets of fossil animals using stable isotopes,
in Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, Lajtha and Michener, eds., Blackwell.
Koch, P.L, Heisinger, J., Moss, C., Carlson, R., Fogel, M.L., and Behrensmeyer, A.K. (1995) Isotopic
tracking of change in diet and habitat use in African Elephants, Science 267, 1340-1343.
Kyser, T. K. (1987) Fractionation of stable isotopes, in: T. K. Kyser (ed.), Stable-Isotope Geochemistry
of Low Temperature Fluids, Mineral. Assoc. Canada Short Course 13, Ch. 1.
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Li Y-H. (1982) A brief discussion of the mean oceanic residence time of elements. Geochim.
Cosmochim. Acta 46, 2671-2675.
McLennan S.M. (1989) Rare earth elements in sedimentary rocks: Influence of provenance and
sedimentary processes, in: B.R. Lipin and G.A. McKay, eds., Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Rare
Earth Elements, MSA Reviews in Mineralogy 21, 169-200.
Mickler, P. M., Banner, J. L., Stern, L. A., Asmerom, Y., Edwards, R. L., and Ito, E., 2004, Stable
isotope variations in modern tropical speleothems: Evaluating equilibrium vs. kinetic isotope effects.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68, 4381–4393,
Miller, E. K., Blum, J. D., Friedland, A. J. (1993) Determination of soil exchangeable-cation loss and
weathering rates using Sr isotopes, Nature, v. 362, p. 438-441.
Müller D. W., McKenzie J. A. and Mueller P. A. (1991) Abu Dhabi Sabkha, Persian Gulf, revisited:
application of strontium isotopes to test an early dolomitization model. Geology 18, 618-621.
Musgrove, M., Banner, J. L., Mack, L. E., Combs, D. M., James, E. W., Cheng, H. and R. L. Edwards,
2001, Geochronology of Late Pleistocene to Holocene speleothems from central Texas: Implications
for regional paleoclimate, Geological Society of America Bulletin 113, 1532-1543
Musgrove, M. and Banner, J.L. (1993) Regional groundwater mixing and the origin of saline fluids:
Midcontinent, United State. Science 259, 1877-1882.
Phillips, F. M. 2000. Chlorine-36. in P. G. Cook and A. L. Herczeg, editors. Environmental Tracers in
Subsurface Hydrology. Kluwer Acad. Publishers.
Portniaguine, O., and D. K. Solomon. 1998. Parameter estimation using groundwater age and head data,
Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Water Resour. Res. 34:637-645.
Sanyal, A., Hemming, N. G., Hanson, G. N., and Broecker, W. S. (1995) Evidence for a higher pH in the
glacial ocean from boron isotopes in foraminifera: Nature 373, 234-236.
Scanlon, B. R. 1992. Evaluation of liquid and vapor flow in desert soils based on chlorine-36 and tritium
tracers and nonisothermal flow simulations. Water Resour. Res. 28:285-297.
Schlesinger, W. H. (1997) Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change. Academic Press, San Diego.
Sheppard S.M.F. (1986) Characterization and isotopic variations in natural waters. In: Valley J.W. et al.,
eds., Stable Isotopes in High Temperature Geological Processes, MSA Reviews in Mineralogy, v.
16, p. 165-182.
Smith, T. and Dorobek, S. (1993) Early Mississippian climate change: Isotopic evidence from meteoric
calcite. In: Swart P. et al., eds., Climate change in continental isotopic records, AGU Monograph
78, p. 77-88.
Solomon, D. K., and E. A. Sudicky. 1991. Tritium and helium-3 isotopic ratios for direct estimation of
spatial variations in groundwater recharge. Water Resour. Res. 27:2309-2319.
Solomon, D. K., and Cook, P.G. 2000. 3H and 3He. Pages 397-424 in P. G. Cook and A. L. Herczeg,
editors. Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology. Kluwer Acad. Publ.
Szabo, Z., D. E. Rice, L. N. Plummer, E. Busenberg, S. Drenkard, and P. Schlosser. 1996. Age dating of
shallow groundwater with chlorofluorocarbons, tritium/helium 3, and flow path analysis, southern
New Jersey coastal plain. Water Resour. Res. 32:1023-1038.
Tyler, S. W., J. B. Chapman, S. H. Conrad, D. P. Hammermeister, D. O. Blout, J. J. Miller, M. J. Sully,
and J. M. Ginanni. 1996. Soil-water flux in the southern Great Basin, United States: temporal and
spatial variations over the last 120,000 years. Water Resour. Res. 32:1481-1499.
Wehlan J. A. (1987) Stable-isotope hydrology, in: T. K. Kyser (ed.), Stable-Isotope Geochemistry of
Low Temperature Fluids, Mineral. Assoc. Canada Short Course 13, 129-161.
White A.F. and Chuma N.J. (1987) Carbon and isotopic mass balance models of Oasis Valley-Fortymile
Canyon Groundwater Basin, Southern Nevada. Water Resources Research, v. 23, p. 571-582.
Winograd, I. J., Coplen, T. B., Landwehr, J. M., Riggs, A. R., Ludwig, K. R., Szabo, B. J., Kolesar, P. T.,
and Revesz, K. M. (1992) Continuous 500,000-year climate record from vein calcite in Devils Hole,
Nevada, Science, v. 258, p. 255-260.
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