U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Geochemistry of Laterites

这个为期两年的奖项支持美国-法国合作研究 包括凯斯西控的萨缪尔·萨文和让-皮埃尔·吉拉德 艾克斯-马赛第三大学的储备和丹尼尔纳洪。 研究人员建议将同位素技术应用于这项研究 红土是热带土壤， of the earth. 他们合作的目标包括分析 矿物中的氧和氢的比例， 巴西发现的活性红土。 萨文博士和吉拉德博士带来了 他们在稳定同位素研究方面的丰富经验， 低温地质材料中的粘土及有关矿物 起源 这一点得到了法国调查员的补充。 在红土的土壤成因和地球化学问题的专业知识 风化 他们将共同收集在 在巴西亚马逊盆地进行实验室分析。 红土提供了一个最好的前景，以获得信息， 古老的气候 通过稳定同位素研究，研究人员 建议确定古温度和同位素值 红土的矿物质含量记录了古代的降雨量。 这一结果对研究稳定剂的使用具有重要意义 同位素来重建古气候 关于这些的知识 古老的气候因素，特别是热带地区的降雨， 增进我们对赤道气候变化 降雨模式和全球气候变化。

This two-year award supports U.S.-France cooperative research involving Samuel Savin and Jean-Pierre Girard of Case Western Reserve and Daniel Nahon of the University of Aix-Marseille III. The investigators propose to apply isotopic techniques to the study of laterites, which are tropical soils that cover a substantial portion of the earth. The objectives of their cooperation involve analyzing oxygen and hydrogen ratios of minerals in well-characterized, active laterites found in Brazil. Drs. Savin and Girard bring to the collaboration their extensive experience in stable isotope studies of clays and related minerals in geologic materials of low temperature origin. This is complemented by the French investigator's expertise in problems of soil genesis and geochemistry of laterite weathering. They will jointly collect laterite samples found in the Amazon Basin in Brazil and conduct laboratory analysis. Laterites offer one of the best prospects to obtain information about ancient climates. Using stable isotopes studies, the investigators propose to determine both paleotemperatures and isotopic values of ancient rainfall as recorded in the mineral content of the laterites. The results will be important to research into the use of stable isotopes for paleoclimatic reconstructions. Knowledge about these ancient climatic factors particularly rainfall in tropical regions will advance our understanding of the link between change in equatorial rainfall patterns and global climate change.