ProfessorHenry "Harry" ElderfieldFRS[6][7] (25 April 1943 – 19 April 2016), was Professor of Ocean Chemistry and Palaeochemistry at theGodwin Laboratory in theDepartment of Earth Sciences at theUniversity of Cambridge.[8][9] He made his name in ocean chemistry and palaeochemistry, using trace metals and isotopes in biogenic carbonate as palaeochemical tracers, and studying the chemistry of modern and ancient oceans - especially those of the glacial epoch and the Cenozoic.[3][10]
He was appointed a lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences,University of Leeds in 1969, a position he held until 1982. From 1982 until 1989 he held the post of assistant director in research in theDepartment of Earth Sciences at theUniversity of Cambridge. He was awarded the degree ofDoctor of Science in 1989 and the same year, was appointedreader ingeochemistry at Cambridge. Elderfield was appointed Professor of Ocean Geochemistry and Palaeochemistry in 1999.
His early career was focused on the behaviour oftrace metals in oceans and their sediments, and on fluid flow through theoceanic crust and sediments under the influence of off-axishydrothermal circulation. He became one of the first low-temperature geochemists to appreciate howradiogenic isotopes might be used to solve the problems of marine geochemistry, developing the seawaterstrontium isotope curve for theCenozoic.[13]
He also worked oniodine speciation in seawater and porewaters,[14] the separation ofcerium from otherrare earth elements in a classic example ofredox behaviour;[15] he has developed a precisemass spectrometric analysis method – and made the first-ever measurements of oceanic profiles for – 10 rare earth elements. The rare earths are now widely used as tracers in sedimentary geochemistry and palaeoceanography.[16]
Elderfield's later research focused on ocean chemistry and paleochemistry, and his results have had a far-reaching impact on the academic geochemistry discipline. He contributed significantly to marine chemistry, most notably the fate of metals in hydrothermal processes, the formation ofmanganese nodules,<[17] and thebiogeochemical cycles of elements including iodine and strontium.
His latter interests included definingchemical proxies from biogenic carbonates and using them to understand the ancient ocean. He pioneered the development offoraminiferalmagnesium thermometry, which has become accepted for the estimation of past ocean temperatures.[16]
^abWakefield, S. J.; Elderfield, H. (1985). "Interstitial water iodine enrichments in sediments from the eastern Pacific".Journal of Marine Research.43 (4):951–961.doi:10.1357/002224085788453912.
^abGerman, Christopher R.; Elderfield, Henry (1990). "Application of the Ce anomaly as a paleoredox indicator: The ground rules".Paleoceanography.5 (5):823–833.Bibcode:1990PalOc...5..823G.doi:10.1029/PA005i005p00823.
^Elderfield, H.; Upstill-Goddard, R.; Sholkovitz, E.R. (1990). "The rare earth elements in rivers, estuaries, and coastal seas and their significance to the composition of ocean waters".Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.54 (4):971–991.Bibcode:1990GeCoA..54..971E.doi:10.1016/0016-7037(90)90432-K.
