Mass-independent oxygen isotope fractionation provides new insights to the research on global changes.Based on an introduction to mass-independent isotope fractionation,this paper discusses the definition of oxygen isotope anomaly [Δ(17O)] and the production mechanisms of massindependent oxygen isotope fractionation,particularly the application of massindependent oxygen isotope fractionation to earth sciences.The productivity assessed with Δ(17O) is total biosphere productivity.It removes the limitation of only evaluating terrestrial or oceanic productivity individually and establishes a basis for the productivity estimates in a more broad temporal and spatial scale.In particular,using Δ(17O) to quantify effectively the relative contribution of homogenous and heterogeneous reaction pathways of aerosol sulfate and nitrate opens a new way for investigating the interaction between climate and aerosol.The combination of Δ(17O) and S isotope in the ice core not only traces the source and transport of sulfate and nitrate but also provides detailed information on their oxidation processes.The discovery of sulfate and nitrate Δ(17O) in some arid areas can reasonably reduce the great uncertainty of identifying the sources and genesis of some sediments.This demonstrates that mass-independent oxygen isotope fractionation will play a more important role in the research on(ancient) atmospheric ozone activity,chemistry in volcanic plumes and O,S and N biogeochemical cycle.
