Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2026

High Precision Zinc Isotopic Measurements Applied to Mouse Organs
Published on: May 22, 2015
Mass-independent isotopic compositions in terrestrial and extraterrestrial solids and their applications
M H Thiemens1, J Savarino, J Farquhar
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0356, USA.
Abstract:
In 1983, Thiemens and Heidenreich reported the first chemically produced mass-independent isotope effect. This work has been shown to have a wide range of applications, including atmospheric chemistry, solar system evolution, and chemical physics. This work has recently been reviewed (Weston, R. E. Chem. Rev. 1999, 99, 2115-2136; Thiemens, M. H. Science 1999, 283, 341-345). In this Account, observations of mass-independent isotopic compositions in terrestrial and Martian solids are reviewed. A wide range of applications, including formation and transport of aerosols in the present atmosphere, chemistry of ancient atmospheres and oceans, history and coupling of the atmosphere-surface in the Antarctic dry valleys, origin and evolution of oxygen in the Earth's earliest environment, and the chemistry of the atmosphere and surface of Mars, are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Mass
High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS)
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect
Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS): Overview
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS): Interferences
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab

