Regular Article

Hafnium isotope fractionation during continental weathering: Implications for the generation of the seawater Nd-Hf isotope relationships

  1. Tian-Yu Chen1,*,
  2. Gaojun Li2,
  3. Martin Frank1,
  4. Hong-Fei Ling3

Article first published online: 14 MAR 2013

DOI: 10.1002/grl.50217

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume 40, Issue 5, pages 916–920, 16 March 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Chen, T.-Y., G. Li, M. Frank, and H.-F. Ling (2013), Hafnium isotope fractionation during continental weathering: Implications for the generation of the seawater Nd-Hf isotope relationships, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 916–920, doi:10.1002/grl.50178.

Author Information

  1. 1

    GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany

  2. 2

    MOE Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry, Department of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

  3. 3

    State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

*Corresponding author: T.-Y. Chen, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. (tchen@geomar.de)

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 24 APR 2013
  2. Article first published online: 14 MAR 2013
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 7 FEB 2013 11:46AM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 3 FEB 2013
  5. Manuscript Revised: 28 JAN 2013
  6. Manuscript Received: 20 DEC 2012

Funded by

  • National Science Foundation of China. Grant Numbers: 41102103, 41021002, 41173105

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Keywords:

  • Hf isotopes;
  • weathering;
  • seawater array

Abstract

[1] To investigate the mechanisms of the offset of seawater radiogenic Nd-Hf isotope compositions from those of the upper continental crust rocks, combined Nd-Hf isotope compositions of desert and loess samples from northern China (which integrate a wide range of lithologies and ages of continental rocks) are presented in this study. The results show significant and systematic fractionation of Hf isotopes between fine-grained detritals/leachates (<5 µm) and coarser fractions (<75 µm) of the same samples. A small but systematic difference of Nd isotope compositions between leachates and detrital silicates is also revealed. Overall, the leaching data either plot along or slightly above the Nd-Hf seawater array, providing strong direct support that the seawater Nd-Hf isotope relationship is predominantly generated by weathering of upper continental crust. Our study supports the application of dissolved Hf isotopes as a proxy for different modes of weathering regimes rather than for continental source provenances.

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