Vanadium Isotopes A Proxy for Ocean Oxygen Variations

About this book

Vanadium isotope ratios (⁵¹V/⁵⁰V) have potential to provide information about changes in past ocean oxygen contents. In particular, V isotopes may find utility in tracing variations at non-zero oxygen concentrations because the redox couple that controls V elemental and isotopic abundances in seawater (vanadate-vanadyl) appears to operate around 10M O₂. This characteristic sets V isotopes apart from many other metal isotope redox proxies that require more reducing conditions to register significant changes in their isotope budgets. The oxygen abundance sensitivity range of V isotopes suggests that this paleoproxy could be particularly useful in tracing marine oxygenation changes throughout the Phanerozoic and potentially beyond.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Marine elemental and isotopic cycle of vanadium
3. Analytical methodologies
4. Potential for applications of V isotopes to reconstruct past ocean redox

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