Preface
Over 10 years have passed since RANKAMA'S second book, Progress
in Isotope Geology, surveyed the literature on isotope abundance determinations. In the meantime the number of measurements and publications has increased enormously. Therefore, it seems necessary to
summarize the knowledge in this field in the light of more recent
developments.
The title of this book was chosen because the whole field of radioactive isotope geochemistry has been deliberately omitted.
The book is divided into three parts. Section A gives the theory of
isotope effects and the technical background, both aspects being discussed
rather briefly. The author regrets some shortcomings in the introductory
section, especially in the theoretical treatment of isotope fractionation,
but he has been trained mainly in earth sciences rather than in physical
chemistry.
Section B gives a summary of the fractionation mechanisms affecting
the most important elements - hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur.
Further, it surveys some other elements that have not yet been as
thoroughly investigated.
Section C surveys the most important results from a geological standpoint. In some cases the opinions of different authors on the same subject are summarized without comment, because the field of stable isotope
geology is growing so rapidly that a final answer cannot be given
at the moment.
It is obvious that in writing this book, which is of the survey type,
the author could not rely only on his own experiments and experience.
He has therefore been careful to conserve as much of their original
flavor as possible and to quote his sources.
The author believes that he has included the most significant recent
contributions to the literature on stable isotopes. It was not, however,
his intention to offer a compendium of all published work in this field,
nor to write something like a handbook of stable isotope geochemistry.
This book is not so much for the specialist active in the field, but
more for students interested in investigating it. The author's hope is that
this book may also have some impact on those earth scientists who are
not intensively engaged in this subject. He has tried to demonstrate the
broad possibilities of stable isotope determinations in solving problems
in geochemistry and cosmochemistry.
Over 10 years have passed since RANKAMA'S second book, Progress
in Isotope Geology, surveyed the literature on isotope abundance determinations. In the meantime the number of measurements and publications has increased enormously. Therefore, it seems necessary to
summarize the knowledge in this field in the light of more recent
developments.
The title of this book was chosen because the whole field of radioactive isotope geochemistry has been deliberately omitted.
The book is divided into three parts. Section A gives the theory of
isotope effects and the technical background, both aspects being discussed
rather briefly. The author regrets some shortcomings in the introductory
section, especially in the theoretical treatment of isotope fractionation,
but he has been trained mainly in earth sciences rather than in physical
chemistry.
Section B gives a summary of the fractionation mechanisms affecting
the most important elements - hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur.
Further, it surveys some other elements that have not yet been as
thoroughly investigated.
Section C surveys the most important results from a geological standpoint. In some cases the opinions of different authors on the same subject are summarized without comment, because the field of stable isotope
geology is growing so rapidly that a final answer cannot be given
at the moment.
It is obvious that in writing this book, which is of the survey type,
the author could not rely only on his own experiments and experience.
He has therefore been careful to conserve as much of their original
flavor as possible and to quote his sources.
The author believes that he has included the most significant recent
contributions to the literature on stable isotopes. It was not, however,
his intention to offer a compendium of all published work in this field,
nor to write something like a handbook of stable isotope geochemistry.
This book is not so much for the specialist active in the field, but
more for students interested in investigating it. The author's hope is that
this book may also have some impact on those earth scientists who are
not intensively engaged in this subject. He has tried to demonstrate the
broad possibilities of stable isotope determinations in solving problems
in geochemistry and cosmochemistry.