Analysis of Hydrogen Isotopic Exchange: Lava Creek Tuff Ash and Isotopically Labeled Water

Abstract:

Nolan and Bindeman (2013) placed secondarily hydrated ash from the 7.7 ka eruption of Mt. Mazama (δD=-149‰, 2.3wt% H₂O_t) in isotopically labeled water (+650 ‰ δD, +56 ‰ δ¹⁸O) and observed that the H₂O_t and δ¹⁸O values remained constant, but the δD values of ash increased with the surrounding water at 20, 40 and 70 °C. We expand on this work by conducting a similar experiment with ash from the 640 ka Lava Creek Tuff (LCT, δD of -128 ‰; 2.1 wt.% H₂O_t) eruption of Yellowstone to see if significantly older glass (with a hypothesized gel layer on the surface shielding the interior from alteration) produces the same results. We have experiments running at 70, 24, and 5 °C, and periodically remove ~1.5 mg of glass to measure the δD (‰) and H₂O_t (wt.%) of water extracted from the glass on a TC/EA MAT 253 continuous flow system. After 600 hours, the δD of the samples left at 5 and 24 °C remains at -128 ‰, but increased 8‰ for the 70 °C run series. However, there is no measurable change in wt.% of H₂O_t, indicating that hydrogen exchange is not dictated by the addition of water. We are measuring and will report further progress of isotope exchange. We also plan to analyze the water in the LCT glass for δ¹⁸O (‰) to see if, as is the case for the Mt. Mazama glass, the δ¹⁸O (‰) remains constant. We also analyzed Mt. Mazama glass from the Nolan and Bindeman (2013) experiments that have now been sitting in isotopically labeled water at room temperature for ~5 years. The water concentration is still unchanged (2.3 wt.% H₂O_t), and the δD of the water in the glass is now -111 ‰, causing an increase of 38 ‰. Our preliminary results show that exchange of hydrogen isotopes of hydrated glass is not limited by the age of the glass, and that the testing of hydrogen isotopes of secondarily hydrated glass, regardless of age, may not be a reliable paleoclimate indicator.