Resource Type: Activities

Sediments and the Global Carbon Cycle
Lonnie Leithold, North Carolina State University at Raleigh
This is a series of exercises designed to introduce undergraduate students to the role of sediments and sedimentary rocks in the global carbon cycle and the use of stable carbon isotopes to reconstruct ancient ...

Teaching Stable Isotope Geochemistry in an Undergraduate Petrology or Geochemistry Course
Steve Dunn
This assignment includes three reading assignments for students that (1) introduce the basics of stable isotope geochemistry, (2) explain carbon and oxygen isotopic shifts that result from volatilization and/or ...

Marine Oxygen Isotopes and Changes in Global Ice Volume
Ben Laabs, SUNY College at Geneseo
Students explore marine oxygen-isotope data from cores collected by the Ocean Drilling Program. The activity gives students access to real paleoclimate data, develops their skills in organizing and graphing data, ...

Vostok Ice Core: Excel (Mac or PC)
Professor Stephanie Pfirman, Barnard College. Based on data of J. Chapellaz, Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environment, Grenoble. Archived at: Lamont-Dohert Earth Observatory (more info) . Starting Point page organized by R.M. MacKay.
Students use Excel to graph and analyze Vostok ice core data (160,000 years of Ice core data from Vostok Station). Data includes ice age, ice depth, carbon dioxide, methane, dust, and deuterium isotope relative ...

Rayleigh fractionation visualization
E. Christa Farmer, Hofstra University
A MS Excel spreadsheet gives an account of Rayleigh fractionation, the progressive removal of the heavier oxygen isotope as a moist air parcel moves from the subtropics to the high latitudes. This exercise is ...

Batch and Rayleigh Decarbonation Modeling of d13C
Jade Star Lackey, Pomona College;
This is an Excel spreadsheet and graph that illustrates standard "batch" and Rayleigh decarbonation models and how they can be used to detect fluid infiltration during metamorphism of carbonates. It makes ...

Research Paper
Alan Wanamaker, Iowa State University
This writing assignment was a major part of a class entitled "Stable Isotopes in the Environment" at Iowa State University. The main goals of the assignment were to foster effective scientific writing and ...

Teaching stable isotopes
Steve Dunn, Mount Holyoke College
Steven R. Dunn Mount Holyoke College - This is a reading assignment in three parts, with problem sets for each part. Part 1 is introductory, part 2 explains isotopic effects of volatilization and fluid flow during ...

Exploring Marine Carbon Isotope Excursions
David Jones, Geology Department, Amherst College Topic: stable isotopes, geochemistry, oceanography, carbon cycle Course type: Upper level undergraduate course Description The exercise is designed to introduce ...