Abstract
Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool used to identify mineral phases, study aqueous solutions and gas inclusions as well as providing crystallinity, crystallographic orientation and chemistry of mineral phases. When united with isotopic tracers, the information gained from Raman spectroscopy can be expanded and includes kinetic information on isotope substitution and replacement mechanisms. This review will examine the research to date that utilizes Raman spectroscopy and isotopic tracers. Beginning with the Raman effect and its use in mineralogy, the review will show how the kinetics of isotope exchange between an oxyanion and isotopically enriched water can be determined in situ. Moreover, we show how isotope tracers can help to unravel the mechanisms of mineral replacement that occur at the nanoscale and how they lead to the formation of pseudomorphs. Finally, the use of isotopic tracers as an in situ clock for mineral replacement processes will be discussed as well as where this area of research can potentially be applied in the future.
Highlights
Some of the first materials in which the Raman effect was documented were minerals [1]
Raman spectroscopy is sensitive to isotopic substitution, of light isotopes such as oxygen or hydrogen isotopes
Raman spectroscopy focuses on the energy lost by the incoming light due to inelastic scattering, called Stokes scattering, because these bands are more intense at room temperature than anti-Stokes bands that reflect a gain in energy from the molecule
Summary
Some of the first materials in which the Raman effect was documented were minerals [1]. Raman spectroscopic analysis can be conducted on liquid and gas samples making it an interesting tool for studying inclusions in minerals [4,5]. This means that Raman spectroscopy can provide information about the factors controlling mineral nucleation [6,7] as well as be used to find cryptic clues for mineral formation. To follow reactions [10] It is only in the past couple of decades that geoscientists have begun to use the combination of light, stable isotopic tracers and Raman spectroscopy to probe mineral reactions.
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