Stable isotope exchange studies and their application to geological problems

使用稳定同位素来解决地质和环境问题现在在世界范围内是常规的，特别是在加拿大的大学。在构成矿物质、水、气体和生物物质的常见元素中，同位素的比例各不相同。地质和生物过程留下了特定的同位素比率。同位素组成的实际应用通常是有效的标记。我已经证明，尽管加拿大西部油田的天然气在化学成分上是相似的，但这些气体具有独特的碳同位素特征，可以有效地识别它们的来源。泄漏气体的同位素指纹图谱已成为确定油气井泄漏气体具体源深的有力工具。过去的成功是在加拿大西部的常规油气井上，但页岩气热潮的到来将钻井带到新不伦瑞克省、魁北克省和安大略省。我们认为，由于在封闭系统中产生，丰富的商业页岩气具有独特的同位素指纹。我们将在北美各地的页岩气上测试这一建议。这不仅对页岩气的勘探和开发很重要，而且可以作为确定地下水中气体来源的模板。公众对水源井污染地下水的恐惧在每日新闻中有充分的记载。深层页岩气不仅可以通过钻井和水力压裂进入浅层地下水，还可以沿着天然断层进入。我将在页岩气开发目标地区开始寻找天然气渗漏，以测试地下水是否已经受到天然气页岩气泄漏的影响，然后再进行钻探。2)结合有机同位素地球化学、古气候学和古昆虫学对琥珀和树树脂进行了研究。我们已经证明，波罗的海琥珀既不是来自松树，也不是来自阿劳卡亚树，而是来自日本伞树的已灭绝的亲戚。我们还发现，被松甲虫感染的树木的树脂同位素发生了深刻的变化。现在，我将分析那些埋葬昆虫的琥珀，以揭示琥珀森林的生态。琥珀和树脂可以在很长的地质记录中找到，我们正在分析它们作为气候变化的代用物。

1) The use of stable isotopes to solve geological and environmental problems is now routine world wide, particularly at Canadian universities. The proportion of isotopes vary in the common elements that make up minerals, waters, gases and living matter. Geological and biological processes imprint particular isotope ratios. Practical applications follow for isotopic compositions are often effective tags. I have shown that even though natural gases in oil fields of W. Canada are similar in chemical make up, the gases have characteristic carbon isotope signatures that effectively identifies their source. The isotopic fingerprint of leaking gases is now used as a powerful tool to find the specific source-depth of gas leaking from oil and gas wells. Past success has been on conventional oil and gas wells of W. Canada but the advent of the shale gas boom has brought drilling to New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. We suggested that prolific commercial shale gases have a unique isotope fingerprint as a result of being generated in a closed system. We will test that suggestion on shale gases from all parts of N. America. This will not only be important for exploration and development of shale gas but also will serve as a template to identify the source of gases in groundwater. The public's fear of groundwater contamination by resource wells is well documented in the daily news. Deep shale gases may enter shallow groundwater not only from drilling and fracking but also along natural faults. I will initiate a search for natural gas seeps in regions targeted for shale gas development to test if groundwater is already impacted by natural shale gas leakage prior to any drilling. 2) I have combined organic isotope geochemistry, paleoclimatology and palaeoentomology to study amber and tree resins. We have already shown that Baltic amber does not come from pine nor Araucaria trees but rather from extinct relatives of the Japanese umbrella tree. We have also seen a profound isotope shift in resins from trees infected with Mt. pine beetles. Now I will analyze ambers that entomb insects to unravel the ecology of the amber forests. Ambers and resins can be found over a long geological record and we are analyzing them as proxies for climate change.