David Dettman
University of Arizona, AZ·Earth & Environmental Science
Elements such as carbon and oxygen come in rare, slightly heavier forms called isotopes. The amounts of these isotopes in materials like carbonate minerals, including limestone and shells, carry clues about past temperatures, ocean and atmospheric chemistry, and biological processes.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Chemistry
Engineering
- Topics
clumped isotopes
triple oxygen isotopes
stable isotopes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Expand a prototype TILDAS system, an infrared laser instrument that identifies molecules by the light they absorb, by adding a new laser unit to measure oxygen-17 in CO2.
- Modify the sample preparation line so that a single CO2 sample from carbonate is split and delivered to both laser systems at once.
- Deliver an integrated laser system that measures clumped isotopes (Δ638, comparable to Δ47), δ18O, δ13C, and δ17O of carbonate in under 50 minutes from one sample of about 2 milligrams.
More about the research
These measurements have traditionally required mass spectrometry, which is precise but slow and costly. This project is developing a faster, cheaper laser-based alternative.
Why it matters
Isotope measurements of carbonates are used across earth science, ocean and atmospheric chemistry, and biology. A laser instrument that measures clumped and triple-oxygen isotopes together, quickly and from tiny samples, could lower the cost and time of this analysis. This could let geochemists and climate researchers process many more samples, for example from small or rare carbonate specimens.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
George Lazar
California State University-San Bernardino, CA·Earth & Environmental Science
Measure how the rare methane isotopologues 13CH3D and 12CH2D2 are distributed when organic matter decomposes under hydrothermal conditions, using lab experiments analyzed on the Panorama high-resolution mass spectrometer.
Clara Blattler
University of Chicago, IL·Earth & Environmental Science·Early-career
Test hypotheses about the size and meaning of the Great Oxidation Event and the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event, using Paleoproterozoic carbonate rocks drilled in Fennoscandia in 2007.
Eric Boyd
Montana State University, MT·Earth & Environmental Science
Conduct targeted experiments with microorganisms that oxidize pyrite at near-neutral pH to separate the individual steps of microbial pyrite oxidation.
The school
University of Arizona: 36 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 487 research doctorates a year.
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