Tracing element pathways and processes of Fe, Cu, Zn and Mo in the geosphere and biosphere using stable isotopes

金属铁、铜、锌和钼在许多重要的物理化学过程中发挥着关键作用。 例如，钼氧化态的变化可能与古海洋支持生命的能力的变化有关；金属蛋白对铜的代谢对于调节这种氧化还原敏感元素在大脑中的分布起着重要作用；锌在工业中广泛使用，其在环境中的存在可能是人类活动的有用指标。这些元素中的每一种都拥有几种稳定的同位素，并且据报道同位素组成存在相当大的变化。这是利用同位素组成来了解这些关键元素在地球-人类界面上的功能的重要机会，最终目标是将这些知识应用于健康和环境化学的挑战。 这项发现补助金支持的研究目标是采用稳定同位素技术来揭示选定系统中同位素丰度的分布和变异性；确定系统中同位素成分发生变化的关键区域和相互作用；并了解导致同位素变异的实际物理化学过程。 由于这些元素通常在生物地球化学过程中相互关联，因此我们将寻求综合我们对 Fe、Cu、Zn 和 Mo 同位素分馏的知识，以更全面地了解复杂的相互作用。 我们想要了解为什么铁、铜、锌和钼的同位素组成会发生变化，并利用这些知识更好地了解这些元素在生物地球化学相互作用中的作用。 **

The metals iron, copper, zinc and molybdenum play critical roles in a number of significant physiochemical processes. For example, changes in the oxidation state of molybdenum may be linked to changes in the ability of paleo-oceans to have supported life; the metabolism of copper by metalloproteins plays an important role in regulating the distribution of this redox sensitive element in the brain; zinc is used extensively in industry and its presence in the environment might be a useful indicator of anthropogenic activities. Each of these elements possesses several stable isotopes and considerable variations in the isotopic compositions are reported. There is an important opportunity to utilize isotopic composition to learn the function of these key elements at the Earth-Human interface with the ultimate goal of applying this knowledge to challenges in health and environmental chemistry. The goals of the research to be supported by this Discovery Grant are to employ stable isotope techniques to uncover the distribution and variability of isotopic abundances in selected systems; identify the critical regions and interactions in a system where changes in isotopic composition occur; and understand the actual physiochemical processes that are responsible for the isotopic variability. Because these elements are often associated with each other in biogeochemical processes we will seek to synthesize our knowledge of Fe, Cu, Zn and Mo isotopic fractionations to yield a more comprehensive understanding of complex interactions. We want to understand why changes in the isotopic composition of Fe, Cu, Zn and Mo occur and exploit this knowledge to better understand the role of these elements in biogeochemical interactions. **