A new study reports the first measurements of 13C18O in atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) and show their variations reflect chemical ‘aging’ consistent with predicted kinetic isotope effects.
isotopes
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracking a Disappearing Mantle Plume in Ancient Samoa
A thick portion of Earth’s crust may have capped the Samoan plume and suppressed volcanism for 30 million years, explaining a curious gap along the Samoan chain.
Posted inScience Updates
How Great was the “Great Oxidation Event”?
Geochemical sleuthing amid acid mine runoff suggests that scientists should rethink an isotope signal long taken to indicate low levels of atmospheric oxygen in Earth’s deep past.
Posted inNews
Carbon Cycles Through Plants More Quickly Than Expected
A radioactive isotope produced by nuclear weapons reveals that plants take up more carbon—but hold on to it for less time—than current climate models suggest.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Radioactive Isotopes Trace Hidden Arctic Currents
Tracing anthropogenic radionuclides shows researchers how water from the Atlantic flows into and mingles with Arctic currents.
Posted inNews
Toxic Metal on the Rise in the Baltic Sea
Postwar reconstruction is likely the cause of elevated thallium levels, but low-oxygen, high-sulfide conditions keep the material, which is extremely dangerous to mammalian health, from moving into the human food chain.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mantle Heat May Have Boosted Earth’s Crust 3 Billion Years Ago
Information from igneous zircon molecules gives researchers new insight into the workings of inner Earth.
Posted inScience Updates
Submarine Avalanche Deposits Hold Clues to Past Earthquakes
Scientists are making progress on illuminating how undersea sedimentary deposits called turbidites form and on reconstructing the complex histories they record. But it’s not an easy task.