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Rubidium-strontium isotope measurements of Lemumbo igneous monocline associated acid and basic rocks to determine earth mantle or crust origin
Rubidium, strontium, & strontium isotopic composition of tektites
We use Sr isotopes to increase the precision of DNA-based origin estimates of wildlife products. Population information is used to develop Sr isotope Elephant Polygons that are overlaid onto the region of origin identified by DNA assignment to determine the sources of seized ivory samples. Our approach is cognizant of isotope mixing due to isotope turnover within animals and also of the large home range of elephants or other mobile species. Genetic information from 3 different law enforcement ivory seizures suggests a region of origin confined to Kenya and Tanzania in eastern Africa. We determine characteristic 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios for each of 25 different Elephant Polygons within this region using analyses of more the 600 known-origin reference samples. Using both the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of the seized ivory samples and elephant population estimates from individual Elephant Polygons we find that at least 75 % of the samples likely came from a single Elephant Polygon which includes the Tsavo National Parks in Kenya and the Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania. A few samples may have come from other regions, most likely from Tanzania. This study illustrates the value of combining genetics, isotope geochemistry, and population surveys in wildlife forensics studies.
Rubidium, strontium, and strontium isotopic compositions in tektites from various locations
Odd strontium isotopes induced by deuterons with stripping and pickup reactions
Strontium isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) can be used to determine the geographic origin of agricultural products. Here, in this study, we measured the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of honey samples from Richland, WA, USA, Latvia, and India, and compared the results to published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr from surrounding areas and values predicted based upon a random forest isoscape model (Bataille et al., 2020). While the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of the honey samples compared well with previously published data, the model did not accurately predict the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of the honey samples, demonstrating that further refinement of the model would be beneficial. Because Sr cycling in terrestrial ecosystems is complex, the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of honey is likely to reflect several sources (e.g., nectar, surface water, dust) and may change over time. In order to accurately predict the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of honey, models must consider local geology, ecology, and bee behavior. Additional research examining how Sr is incorporated into honey is needed to inform models.
Anomalously high values of Seawater Sr-87/Sr-86 near the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary have been reported. However, few of the data from the literature are from a single continuous section, and perhaps the most complete study of the boundary region, from a shallow marine limestone sequence in Alabama, showed elevated Sr-87/Sr-86 but no pronounced spike. Thus, in order to investigate the cause of the change in strontium isotopic composition, it is important to determine the exact nature and magnitude of the increase by studying in detail continuous sections through the boundary. If there is indeed a Sr isotope spike at the K-T boundary, it requires the addition of a large amount of radiogenic Sr to the oceans over a short time period, a phenomenon that may be linked to other large-scale environmental disturbances which occurred at that time. In order to address this question, a high-resolution strontium isotope study of foraminifera from three Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) cores which recovered the K-T boundary section: Site 356 in the South Atlantic, Site 384 in the North Atlantic and Site 577 from the Shatsky Rise in the Pacific was initiated. The isotope measurements are being made on either single or small numbers of forams carefully picked and identified and in most cases examined by SEM before analysis. Because this work is not yet complete, conclusions drawn here must be viewed as tentative. They are briefly discussed.
The geochemistry and strontium isotope data for Coal Creek Watershed, Colorado, consists of cation, anion, and 87Sr/87Sr isotope values from samples collected at 8 stream location along Coal Creek, samples from two groundwater springs within the watershed, and a shallow subsurface piezometer. All stream and spring samples were collected between June and October, 2021, and the shallow, near stream piezometer sample was collected in July of 2022. These data were collected to evaluate how groundwater contributions to Coal Creek originating from shallow vs deep flow paths respond seasonal drying. Understanding of groundwater-surface water interactions in montane systems in critical for the future of water availability in the Western US as groundwater contributions are expected to become more important for sustaining summer stream flows. This data package contains: (1) a csv of all cation samples; (2) a csv of all anion samples; (3) a csv of all 87Sr/87Sr isotope samples; and (4) a csv of locations for each sampling site. The dataset additionally includes a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata; and a data dictionary (dd.csv) file that contains column/row headers used throughout the files along with a definition, units, and data type.
A large bolide impact at the end of the Cretaceous would have produced significant amounts of nitrogen oxides by shock heating of the atmosphere. The resulting acid precipitation would have increased continental weathering greatly and could be an explanation for the observed high ratio of strontium-87 to strontium-86 in seawater at about this time, due to the dissolution of large amounts of strontium from the continental crust. Spikes to high values in the seawater strontium isotope record at other times may reflect similar episodes.
Initial Sr isotopic composition at time of planetary objects formation in solar system and precision measurements for age determination of basaltic achondrites
Evaluation of K, Rb, and Sr concentrations and Sr isotopic composition for hand-picked fractions from the 175- to 1000-micron Apollo 12 fines samples 12032 and 12070 and for two less than 1-mm bulk fines samples, 14163,160 and 14259,21, from Apollo 14 which have model Rb-Sr ages close to 4.6 b.y. The Apollo 14 data indicate the presence of a radiogenic component of 4.6 b.y. model age like the Apollo 12 fines, confirming a very early geochemical differentiation of the moon. Progressively greater enrichment in K and Rb relative to the bulk fines is shown by microbreccia from both samples, ropy brown glass from 12032, and light-grey lithic fragments from 12032. Model Rb-Sr ages, based on a basaltic achondrite initial ratio, are generally close to 4.6 b.y. The microbreccias and ropy brown glass have model ages that are younger but indistinguishable from 4.6 b.y. within analytical error. Light grey lithic fragments from 12032 have a model age of 5.1 b.y. and must have had a multistage Rb/Sr evolution. The data are broadly compatible with two-component mixing models of the Apollo 12 fines. On the basis of modal composition, the microbreccia is considered the major nonbasaltic constituent.
Shock metamorphosed rocks and shock-produced melt glasses from the Wanapitei Lake impact structure have been examined petrographically and by electron microprobe. Eleven clasts exhibiting varying degrees of shock metamorphism and eight impact-produced glasses have been analyzed for Rb, Sr and Sr isotopic composition. Five clasts and one glass have also been analyzed for large ion lithophile (LIL) trace element abundances including Li, Rb, Sr, and Ba and the REE's. The impact event forming the Wanapitei Lake structure occurred 37 m.y. ago based on K/Ar dating of glass and glassy whole-rock samples. Rb/Sr isotopic dating failed to provide a meaningful whole-rock or internal isochron. The isotopic composition of the glasses can be explained by impact-produced mixing and melting of metasediments.
We report here our Pb and Sr isotopic study of some post-glacial basalts (less than 12,000 yr old) from the southern part of Iceland, and use our new data to evaluate various proposed models for the genesis of volcanic rocks on Iceland. The interpretation for Icelandic rocks is also extended to the genesis of volcanic rocks on other oceanic islands of the world.
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Several aspects of the nucleosynthesis of Sr isotopes are considered in an attempt to shed light on the problem of the Sr isotopic anomalies discovered in an inclusion of the Allende meteorite. Decomposition of the Sr isotopes into average r-, s-, and p-process nucleosynthetic classes is performed. It is suggested that the Allende inclusion most likely has an excess of s-process Sr and that the initial Sr-87/Sr-86 isotopic ratio is probably slightly more primitive than basaltic achondrites. The results also show that Sn-115 is mostly due to the r-process and that odd-A yields are very small. It is concluded that if the Sr anomaly in the inclusion is an average s enhancement, it argues somewhat in favor of a model of gas/dust fractionation of s and r isotopes during accumulation of the inclusion parent in the protosolar cloud.
High-precision Sr isotopic data were obtained on carbonate samples from the Neoproterozoic Shaler Group, Victoria Island (Canada). Results indicate that, between ca. 790 and 850 Ma, the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio of seawater varied betweeen 0.70676 and 0.70561, with the minimum value at about 830 Ma. A curve of the Sr-87/Sr-86 seawater ratio vs. age showed that the new data substantially improve the existing isotopic record of Sr in seawater for the period 790-850 Ma. The Sr isotopic system data were coupled with data for the Nd isotopic system to model changes in the seafloor spreading rates (hydrothermal flux) and the continental erosion for the period 500-900 Ma. Results indicate that hydrothermal flux reached a maximum value at ca. 830 Ma, while a maximum in erosion rate occurred at ca. 570 Ma. These peaks are considered to be related to the developments in the Pan-African and related orogenic events.
The Nd and Sr isotopic compositions of Australasian tectites (including two flanged Australian tectites, two low-SiO2 Muong Nong-type tectites, and three high-SiO2 Muong Nong-type tectites) and the Nd, Sm, Sr, and Rb concentrations were investigated by isotope-dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry, and the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotope systematics were used to study the characteristics of the parental material. It is shown that the Nd and Sr isotopic data provide evidence that all Australasian tektites were derived from a single sedimentary formation with a narrow range of stratigraphic ages close to 170 Ma. It is suggested that all of the Australasian tektites were derived from a single impact event and that the australites represent the upper part of a melt sheet ejected at high velocity, whereas the indochinites represent melts formed at a lower level in the target material distributed closer to the area of the impact.
The Rb-Sr isotope system shows promise for use on an in situ geochronology instrument. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.