Isotope fractionation
Encyclopedia
Isotope fractionation is the separation of a mixture of isotope
s into its components.
There are four types of isotope fractionation:
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
s into its components.
There are four types of isotope fractionation:
- equilibrium fractionationEquilibrium fractionationEquilibrium isotope fractionation is the partial separation of isotopes between two or more substances in chemical equilibrium. Equilibrium fractionation is strongest at low temperatures, and forms the basis of the most widely used isotopic paleothermometers : D/H and 18O/16O records from ice...
- kinetic fractionationKinetic fractionationKinetic fractionation is a process that separates stable isotopes from each other by their mass during unidirectional processes.One naturally occurring example of kinetic fractionation is the evaporation of seawater to form clouds...
- transient kinetic isotope fractionationTransient kinetic isotope fractionationTransient kinetic isotope effects occur when the reaction leading to isotope fractionation does not follow pure first-order kinetics and therefore isotopic effects cannot be described with the classical equilibrium fractionation equations or with steady-state kinetic fractionation equations...
- mass-independent fractionationMass-independent fractionationMass-independent fractionation refers to any chemical or physical process that acts to separate isotopes, where the amount of separation does not scale in proportion with the difference in the masses of the isotopes...