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The isotopic geochemistry of ocean waters through time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

A. E. Fallick  and
P. J. Hamilton
A. E. Fallick
Affiliation:
Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish UniversitiesResearch and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QU, Scotland, U.K.
P. J. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish UniversitiesResearch and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QU, Scotland, U.K.
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Abstract

There is a general consensus that the global chemistry of ocean water has not changed markedly during the Phanerozoic. Nevertheless, significant changes have occurred in the geochemical cycles of some elements and patterns of change have been reconstructed, in various forms, through consideration of the isotope ratios 13C/12C, 34S/32S, 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd. There have also been attempts to constrain variations in the isotopic composition of sea water itself through measurements of D/H and 18O/16O, the latter both directly and indirectly. Dissolved constituents in seawater display secular changes in isotopic composition as a consequence of quite different driving mechanisms. δ13C and δ34S variations are broadly correlated and linked by carbon and sulphur exogenic cycle interaction through redox reactions (the “free oxygen cycle”). The 87Sr/86Sr trend is determined by the balance among different Sr inputs to the oceanic pool, which vary in their isotopic composition (limestones, old granitic material and young basaltic material). Neodymium isotope variations are not globally synchronous. Changes in 143Nd/144Nd are influenced by local erosion products from continental landmasses and can therefore be different for coexisting palaeocean basins.

Keywords

carbonneodymiumoxygenstrontiumsulphur
Type
Evolution of the Earth's environment through time
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 80 , Issue 3-4: Environments and Physiology of Fossil Organisms , 1989 , pp. 177 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1989

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