Isotopic composition of natural and synthetic chlorate (δ18O, Δ17O, δ37Cl, 36Cl/Cl): Methods and initial results
Natural chlorate (ClO 3 − ) is widely distributed in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. To improve understanding of the origins and distribution of ClO 3 − , we developed and tested methods to determine the multi-dimensional isotopic compositions (δ 18 O, Δ 17 O, δ 37 Cl, 36 Cl/Cl) of ClO 3 − and then applied the methods to samples of natural nitrate-rich caliche-type salt deposits in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and Death Valley, USA. Tests with reagents and artificial mixed samples indicate stable-isotope ratios were minimally affected by the purification processes. Chlorate extracted from Atacama samples had δ 18 O = +7.0 to +11.1‰, Δ 17 O = +5.7 to +6.4‰, δ 37 Cl = −1.4 to +1.3‰, and 36 Cl/Cl = 48 × 10 −15 to 104 × 10 −15 . Chlorate from Death Valley samples had δ 18 O = −6.9 to +1.6‰, Δ 17 O = +0.4 to +2.6‰, δ 37 Cl = +0.8 to +1.0‰, and 36 Cl/Cl = 14 × 10 −15 to 44 × 10 −15 . Positive Δ 17 O values of natural ClO 3 − indicate that its production involved reaction with O 3 , while its Cl isotopic composition is consistent with a tropospheric or near-surface source of Cl. The Δ 17 O and δ 18 O values of natural ClO 3 − are positively correlated, as are those of ClO 4 − and NO 3 − from the same localities, possibly indicating variation in the relative contributions of O 3 as a source of O in the formation of the oxyanions. Additional isotopic analyses of ClO 3 − could provide stronger constraints on its production mechanisms and/or post-formational alterations, with applications for environmental forensics, global biogeochemical cycling of Cl, and the origins of oxyanions detected on Mars.