Calcium Stable Isotope Geochemistry Introduction

The first part of this chapter briefly introduces the application of Ca stable isotopes in Earth sciences and other branches of natural sciences and summarizes the early history of Ca isotope research. Furthermore, tables with fundamental reference data are provided. The second part introduces the principles of equilibrium and kinetic isotope fractionation theory and discusses isotope fractionation in open and closed systems. It briefly touches on the mass-dependence of equilibrium and kinetic isotope fractionation and approaches to obtain equilibrium isotope fractionation factors experimentally. The reference at the end of this chapter provides a list of general introductions to stable isotope geochemistry and to previous reviews that focused on Ca stable isotopes.