Ruth Blake

Last updated
Ruth Blake
Alma mater Wayne State University (BS)
University of Texas (MS)
University of Michigan (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields Geology, Geochemistry, Engineering, Environmental Sciences
Institutions Yale University

Ruth E. Blake is an American geochemist and environmental scientist. She is a professor at Yale University in earth & planetary sciences, environmental studies, and chemical & environmental engineering. Blake's work focuses on marine biogeochemical processes, paleoclimate, astrobiology, and stable isotope geochemistry. [1] [2]

Contents

Education

Ruth Blake completed a B.S. degree in geology from Wayne State University and a M.S degree in hydrogeology from the University of Texas. She earned a Ph.D. in geochemistry from University of Michigan in 1998. [2] Blake's doctoral research focused on how microbial activity can affect oxygen isotopes in phosphates. [3]

Career and research

While a professor at Yale, Blake expanded on her graduate research focus using isotopic evidence in ancient marine phosphates to show that there was significant biological activity in the ocean during the Archean era. [4]

Blake has worked on numerous other research topics related to biological and/or chemical activity in oceans, sediments, and soils. [5] [6] She has worked on methods development in isotope geochemistry. [7]

Awards and honors

Blake was the 2002 winner of the F.W. Clarke Medal from the Geochemical Society. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archean</span> Geologic eon, 4031–2500 million years ago

The Archean Eon, in older sources sometimes called the Archaeozoic, is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Archean represents the time period from 4,031 to 2,500 Ma. The Late Heavy Bombardment is hypothesized to overlap with the beginning of the Archean. The Huronian glaciation occurred at the end of the eon.

A biosignature is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon that provides scientific evidence of past or present life. Measurable attributes of life include its complex physical or chemical structures, its use of free energy, and the production of biomass and wastes. A biosignature can provide evidence for living organisms outside the Earth and can be directly or indirectly detected by searching for their unique byproducts.

Isotope geochemistry is an aspect of geology based upon the study of natural variations in the relative abundances of isotopes of various elements. Variations in isotopic abundance are measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and can reveal information about the ages and origins of rock, air or water bodies, or processes of mixing between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron cycle</span>

The iron cycle (Fe) is the biogeochemical cycle of iron through the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. While Fe is highly abundant in the Earth's crust, it is less common in oxygenated surface waters. Iron is a key micronutrient in primary productivity, and a limiting nutrient in the Southern ocean, eastern equatorial Pacific, and the subarctic Pacific referred to as High-Nutrient, Low-Chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geobiology</span> Study of interactions between Earth and the biosphere

Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, paleontology, and particularly soil science and biogeochemistry. Geobiology applies the principles and methods of biology, geology, and soil science to the study of the ancient history of the co-evolution of life and Earth as well as the role of life in the modern world. Geobiologic studies tend to be focused on microorganisms, and on the role that life plays in altering the chemical and physical environment of the pedosphere, which exists at the intersection of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and/or cryosphere. It differs from biogeochemistry in that the focus is on processes and organisms over space and time rather than on global chemical cycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulfur cycle</span> Biogeochemical cycle of sulfur

The sulfur cycle is a biogeochemical cycle in which the sulfur moves between rocks, waterways and living systems. It is important in geology as it affects many minerals and in life because sulfur is an essential element (CHNOPS), being a constituent of many proteins and cofactors, and sulfur compounds can be used as oxidants or reductants in microbial respiration. The global sulfur cycle involves the transformations of sulfur species through different oxidation states, which play an important role in both geological and biological processes. Steps of the sulfur cycle are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Oxidation Event</span> Paleoproterozoic surge in atmospheric oxygen

The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) or Great Oxygenation Event, also called the Oxygen Catastrophe, Oxygen Revolution, Oxygen Crisis or Oxygen Holocaust, was a time interval during the Early Earth's Paleoproterozoic Era when the Earth's atmosphere and the shallow ocean first experienced a rise in the concentration of oxygen. This began approximately 2.460–2.426 Ga (billion years) ago, during the Siderian period, and ended approximately 2.060 Ga, during the Rhyacian. Geological, isotopic, and chemical evidence suggests that biologically-produced molecular oxygen (dioxygen or O2) started to accumulate in Earth's atmosphere and changed it from a weakly reducing atmosphere practically devoid of oxygen into an oxidizing one containing abundant free oxygen, with oxygen levels being as high as 10% of their present atmospheric level by the end of the GOE.

In biogeochemistry, remineralisation refers to the breakdown or transformation of organic matter into its simplest inorganic forms. These transformations form a crucial link within ecosystems as they are responsible for liberating the energy stored in organic molecules and recycling matter within the system to be reused as nutrients by other organisms.

γ-Carotene (gamma-carotene) is a carotenoid, and is a biosynthetic intermediate for cyclized carotenoid synthesis in plants. It is formed from cyclization of lycopene by lycopene cyclase epsilon. Along with several other carotenoids, γ-carotene is a vitamer of vitamin A in herbivores and omnivores. Carotenoids with a cyclized, beta-ionone ring can be converted to vitamin A, also known as retinol, by the enzyme beta-carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase; however, the bioconversion of γ-carotene to retinol has not been well-characterized. γ-Carotene has tentatively been identified as a biomarker for green and purple sulfur bacteria in a sample from the 1.640 ± 0.003-Gyr-old Barney Creek Formation in Northern Australia which comprises marine sediments. Tentative discovery of γ-carotene in marine sediments implies a past euxinic environment, where water columns were anoxic and sulfidic. This is significant for reconstructing past oceanic conditions, but so far γ-carotene has only been potentially identified in the one measured sample.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosphorus cycle</span> Biogeochemical movement

The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Unlike many other biogeochemical cycles, the atmosphere does not play a significant role in the movement of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are usually solids at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on Earth. The production of phosphine gas occurs in only specialized, local conditions. Therefore, the phosphorus cycle should be viewed from whole Earth system and then specifically focused on the cycle in terrestrial and aquatic systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John M. Hayes (scientist)</span> American oceanographer (1940–2017)

John Michael Hayes was an American oceanographer. He worked at Indiana University Bloomington, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Euxinia or euxinic conditions occur when water is both anoxic and sulfidic. This means that there is no oxygen (O2) and a raised level of free hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Euxinic bodies of water are frequently strongly stratified, have an oxic, highly productive, thin surface layer, and have anoxic, sulfidic bottom water. The word euxinia is derived from the Greek name for the Black Sea (Εὔξεινος Πόντος (Euxeinos Pontos)) which translates to "hospitable sea". Euxinic deep water is a key component of the Canfield ocean, a model of oceans during the Proterozoic period (known as the Boring Billion) proposed by Donald Canfield, an American geologist, in 1998. There is still debate within the scientific community on both the duration and frequency of euxinic conditions in the ancient oceans. Euxinia is relatively rare in modern bodies of water, but does still happen in places like the Black Sea and certain fjords.

Steven D’Hondt is an American geomicrobiologist who studies microbial communities living beneath the seafloor. He is a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.

Ann Pearson is the PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences and Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences at Harvard University and former chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her research in the area of organic geochemistry is focused on applications of analytical chemistry, isotope geochemistry, and microbiology to biogeochemistry and Earth history.

Carbonate-associated sulfates (CAS) are sulfate species found in association with carbonate minerals, either as inclusions, adsorbed phases, or in distorted sites within the carbonate mineral lattice. It is derived primarily from dissolved sulfate in the solution from which the carbonate precipitates. In the ocean, the source of this sulfate is a combination of riverine and atmospheric inputs, as well as the products of marine hydrothermal reactions and biomass remineralisation. CAS is a common component of most carbonate rocks, having concentrations in the parts per thousand within biogenic carbonates and parts per million within abiogenic carbonates. Through its abundance and sulfur isotope composition, it provides a valuable record of the global sulfur cycle across time and space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microbial oxidation of sulfur</span>

Microbial oxidation of sulfur is the oxidation of sulfur by microorganisms to build their structural components. The oxidation of inorganic compounds is the strategy primarily used by chemolithotrophic microorganisms to obtain energy to survive, grow and reproduce. Some inorganic forms of reduced sulfur, mainly sulfide (H2S/HS) and elemental sulfur (S0), can be oxidized by chemolithotrophic sulfur-oxidizing prokaryotes, usually coupled to the reduction of oxygen (O2) or nitrate (NO3). Anaerobic sulfur oxidizers include photolithoautotrophs that obtain their energy from sunlight, hydrogen from sulfide, and carbon from carbon dioxide (CO2).

The deep biosphere is the part of the biosphere that resides below the first few meters of the surface. It extends down at least 5 kilometers below the continental surface and 10.5 kilometers below the sea surface, at temperatures that may reach beyond 120 °C (248 °F) which is comparable to the maximum temperature where a metabolically active organism has been found. It includes all three domains of life and the genetic diversity rivals that on the surface.

Vital effects are biological impacts on geochemical records. Many marine organisms, ranging from zooplankton to phytoplankton to reef builders, create shells or skeletons from chemical compounds dissolved in seawater. This process, which is also called biomineralization, therefore records the chemical signature of seawater during the time of shell formation. However, different species have different metabolism and physiology, causing them to create their shells in different ways. These biological distinctions cause species to record slightly different chemical signatures in their shells; these differences are known as vital effects.

Sulfur isotope biogeochemistry is the study of the distribution of sulfur isotopes in biological and geological materials. In addition to its common isotope, 32S, sulfur has three rare stable isotopes: 34S, 36S, and 33S. The distribution of these isotopes in the environment is controlled by many biochemical and physical processes, including biological metabolisms, mineral formation processes, and atmospheric chemistry. Measuring the abundance of sulfur stable isotopes in natural materials, like bacterial cultures, minerals, or seawater, can reveal information about these processes both in the modern environment and over Earth history.

Elizabeth A. Canuel is a chemical oceanographer known for her work on organic carbon cycling in aquatic environments. She is the Chancellor Professor of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary and is an elected fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.

References

  1. "Ruth Blake". Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science.
  2. 1 2 "Ruth Blake". Nautilus Live. 18 August 2014.
  3. Blake, R.E.; O'neil, J.R.; Garcia, G.A. (October 1997). "Oxygen isotope systematics of biologically mediated reactions of phosphate: I. Microbial degradation of organophosphorus compounds". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 61 (20): 4411–4422. Bibcode:1997GeCoA..61.4411B. doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(97)00272-X.
  4. Blake, Ruth E.; Chang, Sae Jung; Lepland, Aivo (April 2010). "Phosphate oxygen isotopic evidence for a temperate and biologically active Archaean ocean". Nature. 464 (7291): 1029–1032. Bibcode:2010Natur.464.1029B. doi:10.1038/nature08952. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   20393560. S2CID   4432018.
  5. D'Hondt, Steven; Jørgensen, Bo Barker; Miller, D. Jay; Batzke, Anja; Blake, Ruth; Cragg, Barry A.; Cypionka, Heribert; Dickens, Gerald R.; Ferdelman, Timothy; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe; Holm, Nils G.; Mitterer, Richard; Spivack, Arthur; Wang, Guizhi; Bekins, Barbara; Engelen, Bert; Ford, Kathryn; Gettemy, Glen; Rutherford, Scott D.; Sass, Henrik; Skilbeck, C. Gregory; Aiello, Ivano W.; Guèrin, Gilles; House, Christopher H.; Inagaki, Fumio; Meister, Patrick; Naehr, Thomas; Niitsuma, Sachiko; Parkes, R. John; Schippers, Axel; Smith, David C.; Teske, Andreas; Wiegel, Juergen; Padilla, Christian Naranjo; Acosta, Juana Luz Solis (December 24, 2004). "Distributions of Microbial Activities in Deep Subseafloor Sediments". Science. 306 (5705): 2216–2221. Bibcode:2004Sci...306.2216D. doi:10.1126/science.1101155. PMID   15618510. S2CID   1055042.
  6. Greenwood, James P.; Blake, Ruth E. (November 2006). "Evidence for an acidic ocean on Mars from phosphorus geochemistry of Martian soils and rocks". Geology. 34 (11): 953. Bibcode:2006Geo....34..953G. doi:10.1130/G22415A.1.
  7. Liang, Y.; Blake, R. E. (1 October 2006). "Oxygen isotope composition of phosphate in organic compounds: Isotope effects of extraction methods". Organic Geochemistry. 37 (10): 1263–1277. Bibcode:2006OrGeo..37.1263L. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2006.03.009. ISSN   0146-6380.
  8. "F. W. Clarke Award". Geochemical Society . Retrieved 2020-03-15.