Stable isotope exchange studies and their application to geological problems

1)使用稳定的同位素来解决地质和环境问题现在是全世界的惯例，特别是在加拿大的大学。在构成矿物、水、气体和生物的常见元素中，同位素的比例各不相同。地质和生物过程会影响特定的同位素比率。随之而来的是实际应用，因为同位素组合物通常是有效的标记。我已经证明，尽管加拿大西部油田的天然气在化学成分上相似，但这些气体具有独特的碳同位素特征，可以有效地识别其来源。泄漏气体的同位素指纹现在被用作寻找油气井泄漏天然气的具体来源和深度的有力工具。过去，加拿大西部的常规油气井取得了成功，但页岩气热潮的到来给新不伦瑞克、魁北克和安大略省带来了钻探。我们认为，多产的商业页岩气具有独特的同位素指纹，这是在封闭系统中生成的结果。我们将在北美所有地区的页岩气上测试这一观点。这不仅将对页岩气的勘探和开发具有重要意义，还将作为识别地下水中气体来源的模板。公众对资源井污染地下水的恐惧在每日新闻中得到了很好的记录。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浅层地下水。我将开始在页岩气开发地区寻找天然气渗漏，以测试地下水在任何钻探之前是否已经受到页岩气泄漏的影响。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木树脂进行了研究。我们已经证明，波罗的海的琥珀不是来自松树或南洋松树，而是来自已经灭绝的日本伞树的近亲。我们还看到感染了Mt的树木的树脂发生了深刻的同位素变化。松树甲虫。现在我将分析埋藏昆虫的琥珀，以揭开琥珀森林的生态。琥珀和树脂可以在漫长的地质记录中找到，我们正在分析它们作为气候变化的替代品。

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.