ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY OF CALCIUM ISOTOPES: APPLICATIONS OF A NEW STABLE ISOTOPE APPROACH

Abstract

This paper summarizes isotope fractionation mechanism, analytical method and applications in environmental geochemistry of calcium isotopes. Calcium isotopic composition can be used to constrain material sources and study geological and environmental processes as the isotopic composition of calcium (δ 44Ca) and fractionation processes depend on geochemical circumstances in nature. Recently, thanks to current advances in analytical technology of calcium isotopes, calcium isotopes are broadly used in biological and geochemical studies, such as the mechanism of plants imbibing nutrients through their roots, calcium transport in the environmental ecosystem, calcium cycle in oceans and paleo-oceans and paleo-climate. The elementary data show that δ 44 Ca values vary from -2.88‰ to 0.92‰ in natural samples.