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Isotopes and Geobiology

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Encyclopedia of Geobiology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

It has long been recognized (e.g., Thode et al. (1949), Craig (1953) and Wellman et al. (1968)) that biological processes significantly fractionate the isotopes of C, N, and S, leading to characteristic biosignatures in sedimentary rocks that will be more or less preserved in the geological record. In the following, a brief overview is given of the major isotope fractionation processes in the biosphere and the geosphere. Special attention will be paid to secondary bacterial activity after deposition of the organic matter. Questions of general interest are isotopic indicators of early life on Earth and on Mars. A note of caution, however, is given whether abiogenic processes may lead to isotope compositions similar to that of biological activity.

Carbon isotope fractionation during photosynthesis

Early reviews by O’Leary (1981) and Farquhar et al. (1989) have provided the biochemical background of carbon isotope fractionations during photosynthesis, with more recent accounts...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Isotope Geology, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Jochen Hoefs

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  1. Jochen Hoefs
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Joachim Reitner  & Volker Thiel  & 

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Hoefs, J. (2011). Isotopes and Geobiology. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_120

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