Sci Total Environ 2022 Sep 20;838(Pt 2):156084. Epub 2022 May 20.
Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
As a component of many minerals and an essential trace element in most aerobic organisms, the transition metal element Cu is important for studying reduction-oxidation (redox) interactions and metal cycling in the total environment (lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and anthroposphere). The "fractionation" or relative partitioning of the naturally occurring "heavy" (Cu) and "light" (Cu) isotope between two coexisting phases in a system occurs according to bonding environment and/or as a result of a slight difference in the rate at which these isotopes take part in physical processes and chemical reactions (in absence of equilibrium). Due to this behaviour, Cu isotopic analysis can be used to study a range of geochemical and biological processes that cannot be elucidated with Cu concentrations alone. Read More