September 2009. A paper describing how iron isotopes could be used to trace the redox conditions of mantle melting has been accepted in Earth and Planetary Science Letters (Iron isotopes may reveal the redox conditions of mantle melting from Archean to Present, see Articles section). Postdoctocal researcher Tom Ireland and graduate student Francois Tissot join the Origins Lab.

November 2008. Ali Pourmand, Research Associate at the Origins Laboratory, has accepted a position of Assistant Professor at the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Congratulations!

May 2008. The first article generated by the Neptune MC-ICPMS has been accepted at Astrophysical Journal (Iron-60 evidence for early injection and efficient mixing of stellar debris in the protosolar nebula, see Articles section).

February 2008. Nicolas Dauphas is the recipient of the Houtermans Medal, European Association for Geochemistry.

January 2008. After completion of his postdoc at the OL, Fang-Zhen Teng moved to an assistant professor position at the University of Arkansas, Department of Geosciences. Congratulations!

October 2007. Nicolas Dauphas is the recipient of a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering.

February 2007. Installation of the Neptune MC-ICPMS has been completed.

January 2007. Nicolas Dauphas and Vincent Busigny have published 2 papers presenting new applications of Fe isotope systematics (see Articles section). In one of these papers, the authors showed that paleofluid circulations can be traced using variations in the isotopic composition of iron. In the other, iron isotopes were used to identify the protoliths of heavily metamorphosed chemical sediments (BIFs) in a recently discovered >3.75 Ga supracrustal belt located in Northern Quebec.

December 2006. A Neptune MC-ICPMS has been delivered at the Origins Laboratory. We hope to have it fully operational by the end of January.

May 2006. A review paper on Fe isotope systematics has been published. It contains a compilation of Fe isotope measurements in geostandards and theoretical developments on multiphase isotope distillation and the theory of isotopic fractionation during phase growth in a diffusion-limited regime. [Mass Spectrometry Reviews 25, 515-550].

April/May 2006. After completion of his postdoc at the OL, Vincent Busigny went back to France. On April 10, he became the father of Lucas. On May 9, he obtained an assistant professor position at the prestigious Institut de Physique du Globe in Paris. Congratulations!

March 2006. 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Liping Qin reported new measurements of W isotopes in iron meteorites. Vincent Busigny showed how iron isotopes in hematite concretions can be used to infer the direction and scale of paleofluid flows. Nicolas Dauphas reported Fe isotope measurements in recently discovered >3.76 Ga BIFs from Northern Quebec.

September 2005. 68th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. Liping Qin reported new measurements of W isotopes in iron meteorites to estimate the timing of metal silicate differentiation in asteroids. Vincent Busigny showed how iron isotopes can be used to decipher the formation history of hematite spherical concretions from Utah, which are some of the best terrestrial analogues of martian blueberries. Nicolas Dauphas presented a new method to determine the age of the Milky Way and the U/Th production ratio in stars.

July 2005. Vincent Busigny and Nicolas Dauphas went on a field trip in Utah to collect moqui marbles, which are spherical hematite concretions that share similarities with martian blueberries.

June 2005. Nicolas Dauphas presented a new method to determine the age of the Milky Way (14.5 Gyr) and the U/Th production ratio in stars (0.571) based on measurements of meteorites and low metallicity stars from the halo of the Galaxy [Nature 435, 1203-1205].

December 2004. Nicolas Dauphas and colleagues from Nancy (France) and Chicago (USA) reported Fe isotope measurements of controversial metamorphic rocks from southern West Greenland (Isua, Akilia, and Innersuartuut) dated at around 3.8-3.9 Gyr BP. These results show that the rocks are sedimentary in origin. The isotopic variations are compatible with the transport, oxidation, and subsequent precipitation of ferrous iron emanating from hydrothermal vents [Science 306, 2077-2080].