Abstract
Classical isotope effects and measurements have been used for more than 70 years as a tracer of physical and chemical processes. Isotope measurements of stable isotope ratios provide details of a wide range of processes, especially atmospheric. It is now known that the measurement of multi-isotope mass-independent ratios in atmospheric samples has provided insight into sources, transport, and transformation mechanisms of atmospheric species that could not have been otherwise observed. This chapter reviews the basic physical–chemical processes associated with these unusual isotope effects as well as natural sample measurements on Earth (present and past) and Mars. The Earth's earliest atmosphere (billion years) and near past (100000 years to present) can be followed using mass-independent isotopic measurements. Sulfur and oxygen isotopic composition of sulfate and nitrate aerosols in ice cores and sediments helped reveal the stratospheric chemistry and biogeochemical processes. Present-day greenhouse gas fates and budgets, such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, are also presented. Mass-independent isotopic observations of Martian meteorites have provided new information on its atmosphere–regolith interactions. Isotopic measurements and laboratory studies have also provided insight into the origin and evolution of the solar system.
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