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Series:   Elements in Geochemical Tracers in Earth System Science

Barium Isotopes

Drivers, Dependencies, and Distributions through Space and Time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2021

Tristan J. Horner  and
Peter W. Crockford
Tristan J. Horner
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
Peter W. Crockford
Affiliation:
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Summary

In the modern marine environment, barium isotope (δ138Ba) variations are primarily driven by barite cycling—barite incorporates 'light' Ba isotopes from solution, rendering the residual Ba reservoir enriched in 'heavy' Ba isotopes by a complementary amount. Since the processes of barite precipitation and dissolution are vertically segregated and spatially heterogeneous, barite cycling drives systematic variations in the barium isotope composition of seawater and sediments. This Element examines these variations; evaluates their global, regional, local, and geological controls; and, explores how δ138Ba can be exploited to constrain the origin of enigmatic sedimentary sulfates and to study marine biogeochemistry over Earth's history.
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Keywords

baritebiogeochemistrypaleoceanographymarine sulfateproductivity proxy
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Geochemical Tracers in Earth System Science
Online ISBN: 9781108865845
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 22 April 2021

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