On the 20 July 2009 afternoon, at the invitation of Prof. Z.P. Lai, Dr Wenbo Yang, who is from the University of California at Berkeley, gave a lecture on “Environmental Geochemistry of Stable Isotopes in Death Valley, USA” in Conference Room 6F, ISL.
Dr. Yang has conducted extensive studies in the field of geochemistry of stable isotopes, mainly focusing on its applications. His research results were published in a number of international journals including Science, Paleo-geography, paleo-climatology, paleoecology, Quaternary Research, and American Journal of Science.
In his report, Dr Yang revealed that the formation of Ca isotopes in tree tops is related to biological processes based on stable isotopic studies of C, O, S and CA. The biological significance of Ca isotopes, the record of forestry growing environments and sources of pollution by treetop S isotopes, and the environmental significance of S isotopes in lake formation and evolution processes were also addressed. The isotopic distribution boundaries and patterns of C3 and C4 plants in the district of Death Valley were found in their work.