Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Silicon Isotopes

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geochemistry

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

  • 607 Accesses

Definition

Silicon, atomic number 14, has 24 known isotopes with mass numbers ranging from 22 to 45. Silicon has three stable isotopes: 28Si with 92.23 % abundance, 29Si with 4.67 % abundance, and 30Si with 3.1 % abundance.

Introduction

As the second most abundant element on Earth, silicon has been used to trace processes from as far back as 4.5 billion years ago to today. The added benefit of having three stable isotopes (28Si, 29Si, and 30Si) that can be used to further our understanding of the silicon cycle and processes occurring on Earth and in the solar system makes silicon an increasingly powerful tool for geochemistry. Since the 1950s there have been studies aimed at analyzing silicon isotope ratios, mostly in low-temperature environments, using gas source mass spectrometry. In the early 2000s, the development and application of multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was applied to Si isotopes, and the field of high-temperature silicon isotope...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Armytage, R. M. G., Georg, R. B., Savage, P. S., Williams, H. M., and Halliday, A. N., 2011. Silicon isotopes in meteorites and planetary core formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75, 3662–3676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armytage, R. M. G., Georg, R. B., Williams, H. M., and Halliday, A. N., 2012. Silicon isotopes in lunar rocks: implications for the Moon’s formation and the early history of the Earth. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 77, 504–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dauphas, N., Poitrasson, F., Burkhardt, C., Kobayashi, H., and Kurosawa, K., 2015. Planetary and meteoritic Mg/Si and d30Si variations inherited from solar nebula chemistry. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 472, 236–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rocha, C. L., 2003. Silicon isotope fractionation by marine sponges and the reconstruction of the silicon isotope composition of ancient deep water. Geology, 31, 423–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rocha, C. L., Brzezinski, M. A., and DeNiro, M. J., 1997. Fractionation of silicon isotopes by marine diatoms during biogenic silica formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 5051–5056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rocha, C. L., Brzezinski, M. A., and DeNiro, M. J., 2000. A first look at the distribution of the stable isotopes of silicon in natural waters. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64, 2467–2477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delvigne, C., Opfergelt, S., Cardinal, D., Hoffman, A., and Andre, L., 2016. Desilication in Archean weathering processes traced by silicon isotopes and Ge/Si ratios. Chemical Geology, 420, 139–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, T., Jiang, S., Wan, D., Li, Y., Li, J., Song, H., Liu, Z., and Yao, X., 1996. Silicon Isotope Geochemistry. Beijing, China: Geological Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douthitt, C., 1982. The geochemistry of the stable isotopes of silicon. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 46, 1449–1458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitoussi, C., and Bourdon, B., 2012. Silicon isotope evidence against an Enstatite Chondrite Earth. Science, 335, 1477–1480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitoussi, C., Bourdon, B., Kleine, T., Oberli, F., and Reynolds, B. C., 2009. Si isotope systematics of meteorites and terrestrial peridotites: implications for Mg/Si fractionation in the solar nebula and for Si in the Earth’s core. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 287, 77–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frings, P. J., Clymans, W., Fontorbe, G., De La Rocha, C. L., and Conley, D. J., 2016. The continental Si cycle and its impact on the ocean Si isotope budget. Chemical Geology, 425, 12–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georg, R. B., Reynolds, B. C., Frank, M., and Halliday, A. N., 2006. Mechanisms controlling the silicon isotopic compositions of river waters. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 249, 290–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georg, R. B., Halliday, A. N., Schauble, E. A., and Reynolds, B. C., 2007. Silicon in the Earth’s core. Science, 447, 1102–1006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Georg, R. B., West, A. J., Basu, A. R., and Halliday, A. N., 2009. Silicon fluxes and isotope composition of direct groundwater discharge into the Bay of Bengal and the effect on the global ocean silicon isotope budget. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 283, 67–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, K. R., and Brzezinski, M. A., 2014. Using silicon isotopes to understand the role of the Southern Ocean in modern and ancient biogeochemistry and climate. Quaternary Science Reviews, 89, 13–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, K. R., and Robinson, L. F., 2012. The relationship between silicon isotope fractionation in sponges and silicic acid concentration: modern and core-top studies of biogenic opal. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 81, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hin, R. C., Fitoussi, C., Schmidt, M. W., and Bourdon, B., 2014. Experimental determination of the Si isotope fractionation factor between liquid metal and liquid silicate. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 387, 55–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molini-Velsko, C., Mayeda, T. K., and Clayton, R. N., 1986. Isotopic composition of silicon in meteorites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 50, 2719–2726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oelze, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Hoellen, D., Dietzel, M., and Bouchez, J., 2014. Si stable isotope fractionation during adsorption and the competition between kinetic and equilibrium isotope fractionation: implications for weathering systems. Chemical Geology, 380, 161–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poitrasson, F., and Zambardi, T., 2015. An Earth-Moon silicon isotope model to track silicic magma origins. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 167, 301–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pringle, E. A., Savage, P. S., Badro, J., Barrat, J.-A., and Moynier, F., 2013. Redox state during core formation on asteroid 4-Vesta. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 373, 75–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pringle, E. A., Moynier, F., Savage, P. S., Badro, J., and Barrat, J.-A., 2014. Silicon isotopes in angrites and volatile loss in planetesimals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, 17029–17032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robert, F., and Chaussidon, M., 2006. A palaeotemperature curve for the Precambrian oceans based on silicon isotopes in cherts. Nature, 443, 969–972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savage, P. S., and Moynier, F., 2013. Si isotopic variations in enstatite meteorites: clues to their origin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 361, 487–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savage, P. S., Georg, R. B., Armytage, R. M. G., Williams, H. M., and Halliday, A. N., 2010. Silicon isotope homogeneity in the mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 295, 139–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savage, P. S., Armytage, R. M. G., Georg, R. B., and Halliday, A. N., 2014. High temperature silicon isotope geochemistry. Lithos, 190–191, 500–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahar, A., Ziegler, K., Young, E. D., Ricolleau, A., Schauble, E. A., and Fei, Y., 2009. Experimentally determined Si isotope fractionation between silicate and metal and implications for Earth’s core formation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 288, 228–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahar, A., Hillgren, V. J., Young, E. D., Fei, Y., Macris, C. A., and Deng, L., 2011. High-temperature Si isotope fractionation between iron metal and silicate. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75, 7688–7697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahar, A., Savage, P., and Moynier, F., 2016. Stable isotope evidence for the differentiation of planetesimals. Submitted for Cambridge University Press Volume on Planetesimals.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treguer, P., and De La Rocha, C. L., 2013. The World Ocean silica cycle. Annual Review of Marine Science, 5, 477–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, E. D., Manning, C. E., Schauble, E. A., Shahar, A., Macris, C. A., Lazar, C., and Jordan, M., 2015. High-temperature equilibrium isotope fractionation of non-traditional stable isotopes: experiments, theory, and applications. Chemical Geology, 395, 176–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambardi, T., Poitrasson, F., Corgne, A., Méheut, M., Quitté, G., and Anand, M., 2013. Silicon isotope variations in the inner solar system: implications for planetary formation, differentiation and composition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 121, 67–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler, K., Young, E. D., Schauble, E. A., and Wasson, J. T., 2010. Metal–silicate silicon isotope fractionation in enstatite meteorites and constraints on Earth’s core formation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 295, 487–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, 5241 Broad Branch Rd NY, Washington, DC, USA

    Anat Shahar

Authors
  1. Anat Shahar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anat Shahar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Shahar, A. (2016). Silicon Isotopes. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_284-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_284-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation