About

Geochemistry at WMU

The age of Earth and prevalence of water implies that every rock ever exposed to the surface was modified due to the reaction with fluids, thus linking the geochemical evolution of the hydrosphere and lithosphere. Our research is at forefront of using isotope geochemistry to address the origin of fluids in the crust, seawater-basalt reactions, ancient hydrological cycle, magmatic-hydrothermal systems, chemical evolution of seawater and deposition of siliceous sediments.

Laboratory established ca. January 2023 by David Zakharov (PI)

SIMS lab at University of Lausanne in 2021. Left to right: David Zakharov, Johanna Marin-Carbonne, Julien Alleon. Photo © Félix Imhof /UNIL

Lab Updates

2024 Mar: The fluorination line is working in full swing! First set of consistent high-precision measurements of δ′18O-Δ′17O in olivine and quartz was conducted. Get in touch for collaborative projects/service measurements.

2024 Feb 2: David gives a departmental seminar, Smith Lecture at the University of Michigan. Thanks to Ben Passey for hosting!

2024 Jan: Marks David’s first year at WMU and the mass spectrometer is at full functionality. Stay tuned for more updates

2023 Sept 11-14: Our Delta V Plus goes through an upgrade

2023 Sep 8: David traveled to the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa to present the departmental seminar. Thanks to Tom Forster for hosting.

2023 August 15: The lab welcomes 3 PhD students Israr Hussain, Afrid Abdaly Sheik and Zack Stevens.

2023 August 4: Renishaw Raman microscope is delivered to David’s lab.

2023 July 9-14: David attended Goldschmidt 2023 in Lyon (FR) to present on “Investigating triple O-isotope exchange in submarine vent fluids and experimental H2O-peridotite reaction” and to chair Session 8eO1 - “How do we reconstruct the environment from the geologic record? Identifying and measuring diagenesis in sedimentary archives”

2023 June 25-29: David attended the 2023 NAGT Early Career Workshop at Macalester College campus. Lots of great networking, community building activities, strategic planning for research and teaching. Highly recommended. See https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer2023/index.html

2023 May 4-5: North-Central Section GSA meeting in Grand Rapids, MI. David presentsWhere water meets magma: A high-temperature record of subaerially exposed continental crust through time”

2023 May: Welcome an undergraduate researcher Evan Angeski! Evan has started learning about the local geology using the drill cores available at the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE)

2023 Mar: Thermo EA Isolink has arrived on campus!

2023 Feb 7: A brand new CO2 laser arrived along with many bits and pieces of lab equipment.

2023 Jan 9: First week of classes at WMU. I am teaching GEOS 1300

2022 Dec 12-16: AGU Fall Meeting 2022 in Chicago! David Zakharov’s first presentation under the “WMU” name tag. The presentation entitled “High-precision and high spatial resolution isotope measurements of seafloor-drilled cherts: What can we learn about diagenesis of ancient cherts?”