Willis Resilience Expedition of the deposition rate of Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, across Antarctica. The relatively short half-life of Tritium means it can be used to date snow and ice up to around 150 years old. The data can then be used to better understand the global water cycle, which is intrinsically linked to changes in climate. This will be the first large-scale study of Tritium in Antarctica since Tritium returned to normal levels following the spike caused by thermonuclear tests in the 1960s. The samples will be sent to GNS Science, a New Zealand Crown Research Institute, for analysis. Once
Kinetic isotope effect now relatively routine. Moreover, several qualitative and semi-quantitative models allow rough estimates of deuterium isotope effects to be made without calculations, often providing enough information to rationalize experimental data or even support or refute different mechanistic possibilities. Starting materials containing deuterium are often commercially available, making the synthesis of isotopically enriched starting materials relatively straightforward. Also, due to the large relative difference in the mass of deuterium and protium and the attendant differences in vibrational frequencies, the magnitude of the isotope effect is larger than any other pair of isotopes except protium and tritium, allowing both primary and secondary isotope