Earth
and Space Sciences Faculty |
|
Roger
Buick |
Areas of Interest:
Precambrian Life and Environments,
Astrobiology
Research Groups:
Analytical
Geochemistry
Astrobiology
Paleontology
Sedimentology/Stratigraphy/Sedimentary
Petrology
Background:
I am interested in the origin
and earliest evolution of life on Earth and how that can be used as an analogue
for life elsewhere in the Universe. My research techniques lie at the intersection
of geology, biology and chemistry, examining the oldest and best-preserved rocks
available. This involves fieldwork in the Australian outback, on the Greenland
ice-cap and in the Canadian woods, amongst other places.
Examples of current projects include:
Early evolution of bacterialmetabolism - palaeontology and stable-isotope geochemistry of Archaean sedimentary rocks, with the aim of determining when the main forms of microbial metabolism first arose and whether this caused environmental change in the atmosphere and oceans.
Early Archaean atmospheric composition - detrital heavy minerals in Archaean fluvial sandstones, with the aim of determining whether their alteration patterns indicate primordial atmospheric greenhouse effect modulated by carbon dioxide or some other gas in order to counteract the weaker solar luminosity during Earth's early history.
Secular trends in marine nutrient fluxes and their ecological impact - phosphorus and nitrogen geochemistry in sedimentary rocks through time, with the aim of better quantifying oceanic fluxes and budgets for these elements, identifying temporal trends in their sources and sinks, and determining whether these reflect or influenced ecosystem evolution.
Early evolution of continental crust - trace-element and radiogenic-isotope geochemistry of basalts ~3.5 billion years old across an ancient unconformity in the Pilbara Craton, Australia, with the aim of contraining the primordial growth rate of continental crust, the tectonic environments of the early Earth and the biological impacts of crustal differentiation.
Molecular fossils from early Precambrian rocks - organic geochemistry of well-preserved Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic hydrocarbons and kerogen, with the aim of discovering organic geochemical biomarkers that constrain the phylogenetic history of microbial ecosystems.
Selected Publications:
2004: Shen, Y. &
BUICK, R., The antiquity of microbial sulfate reduction. Earth Science
Revuews 64, 243-272.
2003: Brocks, J.J., BUICK, R., Logan, G.A. & Summons, R.E., Composition and syngeneity of molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion-year-old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. Ceochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 67, 4289-4319
2003: Brocks, J.J., BUICK, R., Summons, R.E. & Logan, G.A., A reconstruction of Archean biological diversity based on molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion year old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 67, 4321-4335.
2002: BUICK, R., et al., Geochronology of the Sulphur Springs Group and Strelley Granite: a temporally distinct igneous province in the Archaean Pilbara Craton, Australia. Precambrian Research, 114, 87-120.
2001: BUICK, R., Life in the Archaean; in D.E.G. Briggs & P.R. Crowther (eds) Palaeobiology II, Blackwell, Oxford, 13-21.
2001: Shen, Y., BUICK, R. & Canfield, D.E., Isotopic evidence for microbial sulphate reduction in the early Archaean era. Nature, 410, 77-81.
2000: Rasmussen, B. & BUICK, R., Oily old ores: evidence for hydrothermal petroleum generation in an Archean volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit. Geology, 28, 731-734.
2000: Green, M.G., Sylvester, P.J. & BUICK, R., Growth and recycling of early Archaean continental crust: geochemical evidence from the Coonterunah and Warrawoona Groups, Pilbara Craton, Australia. Tectonophysics, 322, 69-88.
1999: Brocks, J.J., Logan, G.A., BUICK, R. & Summons, R.E., Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes. Science, 285, 1033-1036.
1999: Rasmussen, B. & BUICK, R., Redox state of the Archean atmosphere: evidence from detrital heavy minerals in ca. 3250-2750 Ma sandstones from the Pilbara Craton, Australia. Geology, 27, 115-118.
1998: Dutkiewicz, A., Rasmussen, B. & BUICK, R., Oil preserved in fluid inclusions in Archaean sandstones. Nature, 395, 885-888.
1995: BUICK, R., Thornett, J.R., McNaughton, N.J., Smith, J.B., Barley, M.E. & Savage, M., Record of emergent continental crust ~3.5 billion years ago in the Pilbara Craton, Australia. Nature, 375, 574-577.
Additional Information:
Along
with Eric Steig and Peter Ward, I am one of the operators of the Cooperative Facilty
for Isotope Research in Astrobiology, Climate and Ecosystem Science, a new
stable
isotope laboratory. This facility now has 4 mass spectrometers: a
Micromass Isoprime
for oxygen in water and carbonates, two Finnigan Delta Plus
instruments with elemental
analyser for continuous-flow
organic carbon and nitrogen, and a Finnigan MAT 253. I am also setting up
an acid
maceration lab, for separating kerogen, pyrobitumen and microfossils from their
rock matrix. This will be equipped with an HF fume-hood, refrigerated centrifuge
and lyophilizer, with an Olympus BX51 epifluorescence microscope for imaging the
products.
Last
Modified:2/14/2004
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Earth and Space Sciences ( Geology, Geophysics, Geological Sciences) University of Washington Johnson Hall 070 • Box 351310 4000 15th Avenue NE • Seattle, WA 98195-1310 Phone 206-543-1190 • Fax 206-543-0489 • Site Info: webmaster@ess.washington.edu • ESS Advising: advising@ess.washington.edu |