Ruth Blake

A primary focus of Dr. Blake’s research has been the characterization and interpretation of oxygen isotope fractionations in the PO4-water system during biogeochemical cycling of phosphorous in natural waters and sediments. A major area of current research surrounds characterization and “ground-truthing” of 18O/16O ratios (18O) signatures of phosphates in mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal Fe-oxide deposits, with the goal of identifying reliable 18Op biosignatures and isotopic tracers of microbial activity and phosphorous cycling at mid-ocean ridges, in Earth’s deep biosphere, Mars and beyond. Many of the activities her laboratory are devoted to development of methods for extraction and O isotopic analysis of PO4 in a range of geologic, biologic and extraterrestrial materials including deep-sea sediments, ancient rocks; biomass, and Martian soil analogue materials.