Bruce Nelson
  Professor
  Office: JHN-433
     ESS Mailing Address
  Phone: 206-543-4434, 206-543-9187
  Fax: 206-543-0489 (shared)
  Email: bnelson @ u.washington.edu
  Homepage: http://depts.washington.edu/isochem

  Research Groups: Astrobiology, Isotope Geochemistry, Petrology/Mineralogy/Geochemistry, Volcanology

Areas of Interest:
Isotope Geochemistry; Igneous Petrology; Environmental Chemistry

Education:
Ph.D., Geology, UCLA, 1985
M.S., Geology, University of Kansas, 1980

Current Research Interests:
Bruce Nelson received his B.A. in geology from Carleton College, Minnesota, in 1977, his M.S. in geology from the University of Kansas in 1980, and his Ph.D. in geology from UCLA in 1985. He received an NSF postdoctoral fellowship to the Institute de Physique du Globe at the Université de Paris (1985-86). He came to the University of Washington in 1986.

Nelson directs the Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory; a complete description of research activities may be found on the Laboratory's web pages. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Oceanography, and is a member of the UW Astrobiology Program. His research interests are in the application of variations in radiogenic isotope compositions (Pb, Nd, Hf, Sr, U-series) and trace element abundances to studies of the origin and evolution of continental crust, the chemical structure of mantle plumes and the suboceanic mantle, intraplate and mid-ocean ridge volcanism, the paleochemistry of sea water, and hydrothermal circulation systems at mid-ocean ridges. He also examines variations in stable metal isotope ratios (e.g., Cu, Zn, Fe) to infer processes of hydrothermal circulation and metal fluxes relevant to environmental concerns. Recent studies include investigation of the sources of granites and basalts in the Cascades, volcanism in the Kamchatka arc, the evolution of volcanism in the Hawaiian and Canary Islands, chemical fluxes associated with hydrothermal alteration of oceanic crust, metal isotope variability in mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems, and the isotopic signature of anthropogenic toxic metals accumulating in Puget Sound.

The Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory is built around a suite of five adjoining clean laboratories. One lab is dedicated to common Pb and U-series processing, another to trace metal separations, another to Nd, Hf, Sr, Se and other analyses, and a general acid preparation and cleaning lab. The instrumentation lab houses a VG Sector solid source mass spectrometer, and a Nu Instruments multiple-collector ICP-MS.

Graduate Students:
Current:
Samantha Ewing: Stable metal isotope variations in a high-temperature sulfide structure from the Juan de Fuca ridge.
Theresa Kayzar: U-series tracing of volatile transport in recent activity, Kamchatka volcanic arc.
Eva Stüeken (co-advise with Roger Buick): Selenium isotope ratios as a paleo redox tracer.

Recent graduates:
Amy Gaffney: Geochemical investigation of the role of recycled crust in Hawaiian magmatism
Heidi Guetschow: Evolution of alkalic magmatism on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Amber Hamilton: Geochemistry of Taburiente volcano on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain

Selected Publications:

de Villiers S. and Nelson B.K. (1999) Detection of low-temperature hydrothermal fluxes by seawater Mg and Ca anomalies: Science, v. 285, p. 721-723.

Holcomb R.T., Nelson B.K., Reiners P.W. and Sawyer N.-L. (2000) Overlapping volcanoes: The origin of Hilo Ridge, Hawaii: Geology, v. 28, p. 547-550.

Gaffney A.M., Nelson B.K., Reisberg L. and Eiler J.M. (2005) Oxygen - osmium isotope systematics of West Maui lavas: A record of shallow-level magmatic processes: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 239, p. 122-139.

Gaffney A.M., Nelson B.K. and Blichert-Toft J. (2005) Melting in the Hawaiian plume at 1-2 Ma as recorded at Maui Nui: the role of eclogite, peridotite and source mixing: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 6, Q10L11, doi: 10.1029/2005GC000927.


Bosch D., Blichert-Toft J., Moynier F., Nelson B.K., Telouk P., Gillot P.-Y. and Albarède F. (2008) Pb, Hf and Nd isotope compositions of the two Réunion volcanoes (Indian Ocean): A tale of two small-scale mantle “blobs”?: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 265, p. 748-768.

Harkins S.A., Appold M.S., Nelson B.K., Brewer A.M. and Groves I.M. (2008) Lead isotope constraints on the origin of nonsulfide zinc and sulfide zinc-lead deposits in the Flinders Ranges, south Australia: Economic Geology, v. 103, p.353-364.