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Copper Isotopes

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geochemistry

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

Synonyms

Copper stable isotopes; Cu isotopes

Introduction

Copper has two stable isotopes, 63Cu and 65Cu, with relative abundances of 69.15% and 30.85%, respectively. A transition metal, Cu is moderately siderophile and strongly chalcophile (around 2/3 of Earth’s Cu is thought to be stored in its core). Copper is redox-sensitive and is present in three oxidation states in terrestrial environments: native Cu0, Cu+ and Cu2+. Copper is both economically important and an essential micronutrient. For all these reasons, isotopic variations of Cu have the potential to inform us of processes, sources, and phenomena in all disciplines of the geosciences. A more detailed review of the myriad applications of Cu isotopes is given by Moynier et al. (in press).

Analysis

As with many other stable isotope systems, accurate, precise, and routine measurement of Cu isotope ratio was made possible with the advent of Multi-collector Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) and precisions of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Paul Savage

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  1. Paul Savage
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Correspondence to Paul Savage .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    William M. White

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Savage, P. (2018). Copper Isotopes. In: White, W.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39312-4_282

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