LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Danny W. Anderson Department of Geological Sciences Jackson School of Geosciences The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, USA and Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Brown University Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Jaime D. Barnes Department of Geological Sciences Jackson School of Geosciences The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, USA
Anirban Basu Department of Earth Sciences Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, UK
Ethan F. Baxter Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA
Bernardo Beate Department of Mineral Resources National Polytechnic School Quito, Ecuador
John N. Christensen Earth and Environmental Science Area Energy Geosciences Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California, USA
Mark T. Clementz Wyoming High Precision Isotope Laboratory Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Alan L. Deino Berkeley Geochronology Center Berkeley, California, USA
Donald J. DePaolo Earth and Environmental Science Area Energy Geosciences Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California, USA and Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California Berkeley, California, USA
Jennifer L. Druhan Department of Geology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana, Illinois, USA
G. Lang Farmer Department of Geological Sciences, and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado, USA
Salvatore Giammanco National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Etna Observatory Catania, Italy
Lisa Hammersley Department of Geology California State University, Sacramento California, USA
Noah E. Jemison University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Thomas M. Johnson Department of Geology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana, Illinois, USA
Michelle K. Jordan Earth and Environment Department Boston University Boston, Massachusetts, USA and Earth and Planets Laboratory Carnegie Institution for Science Washington, DC, USA
Thomas A. Laakso Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
John C. Lassiter Department of Geological Sciences Jackson School of Geosciences The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, USA
Kate Maher School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences Stanford University Stanford, California, USA
Kathryn A. Maneiro Department of Earth and Environmental Science Wheaton College Wheaton, Illinois, USA and Earth and Environment Department Boston University Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Edward W. Marshall Department of Geological Sciences Jackson School of Geosciences The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, USA and School of Engineering and Natural Sciences University of Iceland Reykjavik, Iceland
Cole M. Messa Wyoming High Precision Isotope Laboratory Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Frank M. Richter Department of the Geophysical Sciences The University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois, USA
Frederick J. Ryerson Atmospheric, Earth and Energy Division Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, California, USA
Kathrin Schilling Department of Environmental Health Sciences Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University New York, USA
Daniel P. Schrag Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Sean R. Scott Wyoming High Precision Isotope Laboratory Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming, USA and Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Justin I. Simon Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas, USA
Kenneth W. W. Sims Wyoming High Precision Isotope Laboratory Department of Geology and Geophysics University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Alexandra V. Turchyn Department of Earth Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK
Daniel Villanueva‐Lascurain Department of Geological Sciences Jackson School of Geosciences The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas, USA
Xiangli Wang Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
Naomi L. Wasserman Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division Physical and Life Sciences Directorate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, California, USA
James M. Watkins Department of Earth Sciences University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon, USA
PREFACE
The exploration of geologic processes using small and often barely measurable variations in the abundance of certain isotopes has been central to unraveling the dynamic processes and interconnected systems that shape our planet. Through careful measurements and a quantitative interpretation of isotopic abundances and their natural variations in Earth materials, isotope geochemists have established the absolute age of the Earth; the timescales of differentiation and remixing that have formed our chemically and mechanically segregated planet; the ages of the continents; the rates of orogenesis and weathering; the evolution of our planet’s climate; the rates of mass transfer between key reservoirs; and even a better understanding of the nexus between geology and life.
These insights into the origins and workings of our Earth are truly profound; even still, the potential of using isotopes to further elucidate our understanding of Earth (and life) science continues to grow. A few decades ago, only a handful of isotope systems were routinely analyzed. Today, recent advancements in mass spectrometry have enabled us to measure the isotopic abundances of almost every element in the periodic table precisely and accurately. Predictably, the application of newly available isotope systems is leading to new ideas, new models, new experiments, and a deeper understanding of Earth system science.
In this volume, we have compiled a collection of papers, written by former students, post‐docs, collaborators, and friends of Donald J. DePaolo. These papers’ topics range from large‐scale, geologic processes to small‐scale, metabolic processes, and are broadly grouped into two simple categories: High‐Temperature/Deep Earth Processes and Low‐Temperature/Shallow Earth Processes. There are other possible ways to organize these contributions – radiogenic versus stable isotope systems; geologic past versus modern; land versus ocean; and many more. However, given the breadth of Don’s contributions over his illustrious career, these divisions are illusory. Don’s early work on mantle heterogeneity contributed to his later work on strontium isotopes in seawater. His work on measuring the timescales of metamorphic processes contributed to his work on using isotopes in hydrology.
Across the diverse contributions in this book, we hope you will see a series of common themes: careful measurements, the use of simple physical models of processes, and