Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory

The Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory is a member

of the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium:

The overarching theme of our group is application of isotope geochemistry to a wide variety of research problems, ranging from the origin and evolution of life to ultra-high-pressure metamorphism in orogenic belts.  We pursue this work through two sub-sets of isotope geochemistry: a) stable isotopes, such as ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁴Fe, ⁶⁵Cu/⁶³Cu, ⁴⁴Ca/⁴⁰Ca, ³⁴S/³²S, and ²⁶Mg/²⁴Mg, and b) radiogenic isotopes, including long-lived decay systems such as ⁸⁷Rb-⁸⁷Sr, ¹⁴⁷Sm-¹⁴³Nd, ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf, ¹⁸⁷Re-¹⁸⁷Os, ²³⁵U-²⁰⁷Pb, and ²³⁸U-²⁰⁶Pb, as well as short-lived decay systems such as ²³⁸U-²³⁰Th-²²⁶Ra.  Our work involves studies across the globe as well as extraterrestrial samples, including those from the Moon and Mars.

Directed by Prof. Clark Johnson and Dr. Brian Beard, this laboratory includes two magnetic-sector multi-collector mass spectrometers in a climate-controlled clean lab, as well as an adjacent clean chemistry lab.  

See "laypersons" overview of Fe isotope geochemistry from the 2005 Department Newsletter.

For more information, contact Clark Johnson at clarkj@geology.wisc.edu

Last revised: 12/19/07