The Determination of the Osmium Budget of the Oceans

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

The goals of this proposal are to understand the Os abundances and 187Os/188Os of the ocean as well as the fluxes of Os into and out of the oceans, needed to determine the geochemical budget of Os in the oceans, its residence time and the possible utility of Os data for paleoclimatic studies. Analyses will be carried out for hydrothermal fluids from Juan de Fuca, organic-rich black shales, tributaries of the Orinoco river, and Mn crusts and nodules in order to constrain the budget of Os in the oceans.