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 Oct: New paper on silicification of Archean basalts came out in Chemical Geology (Kitoga et al., 2024)! congrats to Dr. Steve Kitoga with a PhD defense at L'Université Clermont Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122407

2024 Oct 7: Our departmental series is hosting Dr. Mattia Pistone (University of Georgia), who will shed light on the drilling project of ICDP in the Ivrea-Verbano zone http://www.dive2ivrea.org/. Special thanks to the Continental Scientific Drilling program of the Geological Society of America: 2024-2025 Distinguished Lecture series as Mattia is the distinguished lecturer.

2024 Sept: Rhys Campbell joined us as an undergraduate researcher continuing the work on petrography and stable isotopes of Michigan basin rocks

2024 Aug 8-23: We present our research at Goldschmidt, 2024 in Chicago! Everyone (Afrid, David and Zack) made their presentations (2 posters, 1 talk) in the session honoring the legacy of Karlis Muehlenbachs.I

2024 Apr 24: Join the IsoNet Isotopologue Network for Early Career Researchers (ECR) seminar on April 24th. I will be giving a short summary of our research program and lab capabilities. Zoom link is at the bottom of this page: https://isonetecr.wixsite.com/my-site/event-details-registration/seminar-david-zakharov-1

2024 Apr 11: David gives another departmental seminar at the University of Illinois at the Urbana-Champaign. Thanks to Craig Lundstrom for hosting!

2024 Mar 18: We are fortunate to host a Distinguished Lecturer of the Mineralogical Society of America Dr. Juan Carlos de Obeso from University of Utah, who will present his talk “Sparkling water and peridotite: Serpentinization and carbonation in the mantle”

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 26: Our department hosts Dr. Hannah Blatchford (Eastern Michigan University), who will talk about history of deformation and metamorphic petrology in Western Gneiss Region, Norway

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?”