Lachniet UNLV Isotope Geochemistry

GEOL 707 – Stable Isotope Geochemistry

Spring 2011

Dr. Matthew S. Lachniet

UNLV Department of Geosciences

The Las Vegas Isotope Science Lab at UNLV

Syllabus for Fall 2011

Tuesday/Thursday 11:30-12:45, LFG 201A

Lectures in PDF format:

Lecture_01: Introduction Chapter 1

Lecture_02: Terminology, standards, and mass spectrometry Chapter 2

Lecture_03: Fractionation Chapter 3

Lecture 04: The Hydrosphere Chapter 4 (Chapters 2 and 3 in Clark and Fritz optional)

Lecture 04b: Ice Core Paleotemperature Handouts

Lecture 05: Carbonate Paleothermometer Chapter 6

Lecture 06: Sedimentary Silicate Paleothermometers Chapter 8

Mid-term exam rescheduled for Tuesday, March 22. It will be emailed as a take-home exam.

On Thursday, March 24, class will meet in the LVIS lab and our resident carbonate expert Jon Baker will show you how the Kiel device works.

Lecture_07a: Igneous Petrology Chapter 5 (p. 112-115) and Chapter 11

Lecture_07b: Rock-Water Interaction and Hydrothermal systems Chapter 11

Lecture_08: Metamorphic Systems Chapter 12

Lecture_09: Carbon Isotopes Chapter 7 + paper on biominerals

Lecture_10: Nitrogen Isotopes (messy, messy, messy!)

Lecture_11: Strontium Isotopes (not really stable, but close enough for geology!)

Isotopes in Petroleum paper: Read for week of April 25 (week 14).

Presentations:

4/28/11 (Thursday): Melissa

5/3/11 (Tuesday):

5/5/11 (Thursday:

What are stable isotopes?

Stable isotopes are extremely powerful natural tracers that allow elucidation of geological processes that traditional geologic techniques can not answer. This course will give you a solid background of uses of stable isotopes in geology, and will be integrated with the new stable isotope lab at UNLV.

GEOL 707 is a 3 credit graduate course in the principles and applications of stable isotope geochemistry.

This class introduces concepts on stable isotope fractionation and examines the use of stable isotopes as tracers of hydrologic and geologic cycles, and their use in igneous and economic geology, paleoclimatology, hydrology, and oceanography. We will also explore the use of stable isotopes in Biology, as tracers of diet and biological processes.

The course also includes theory and research applications of stable isotopes in geologic, biologic, water, and atmospheric samples, including carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, strontium, and sulfur isotopes.

Text book: