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| Name |
Farquhar, James |
| Location
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University of Maryland, College Park |
| Primary Field
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Geology |
 Election Citation
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Farquhar revealed the history of atmospheric oxygenation through mass-independent sulfur isotope signals and showed the cycling pathway between Earth's surface and mantle.
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Research Interests
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James Farquhar's research has focused primarily on sulfur isotope geochemistry in a variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial systems with some work on oxygen isotope geochemistry. Work by Farquhar and his collaborators with sulfur spans the ancient to the modern and extends from the atmosphere to the oceans and solid Earth. Farquhar and coworkers are best known for the discovery and interpretation of mass independent sulfur isotope signatures in samples from the early Earth that trace the evolution of oxygen and chemistry in the early atmosphere. Similar signatures for Mars tell of different conditions and reflect different reactions. On both planets, they provide tracers that track sulfur from surface reservoirs into other planetary reservoirs. Farquhar and coworkers have also used sulfur isotopes to trace metabolic and biogeochemical transformations for inorganic and organic sulfur compounds using laboratory experiments and ab initio approaches. Work in the not-too-distant future will shift to studies of atmospheric gases with a focus on regional and continental methane in modern systems with the establishment of the University of Maryland high mass resolution mass spectrometry facility. |
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