Susan Brantley 
EESI Associate
Director, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
Contact Information:
Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
The Pennsylvania State University
2217 Earth & Engineering Sciences Building, 225B
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 865-1619
Fax: (814) 865-3191
email: brantley@eesi.psu.edu
Institute website:www.eesi.psu.edu
Dept. website:http://www.geosc.psu.edu/
Research Interests:
Chemical and physical processes associated with the circulation of aqueous fluids in shallow hydrogeologic settings.
Investigations incorporate field and laboratory work, and theoretical modelling of observations. Of particular interest are questions concerning the measurement and prediction of the rates of natural processes, including chemical weathering and natural degassing. Recent work has focused on the effect of microbial life on mineral reactivity.
Current Projects:
1. Fe release and isotope fractionation during microbial alteration of silicate and oxide minerals
2. Extraction of Mo from silicate glass by a soil bacterium (Azotobacter vinelandii)
3. Cu isotope fractionation during microbially enhanced mineral dissolution and precipitation
4. Measurement of weathering rinds on basalt from Norway and Costa Rica
5. Rates and mechanisms of spheroidal weathering
6. Reactive transport modelling of weathering
Recent Publications:
2008 Hausrath E. M., Navarre-Sitchler A. K., Sak P. B., Steefel C. I., and Brantley S. L. Basalt weathering rates on earth and the duration of liquid water on the plains of Gusev Crater, Mars. Geology 36:1, 67-70.
2008 Bandstra, J. and Brantley, S. L. Surface evolution of dissolving minerals investigated with a kinetic Ising model. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 72, 2587-2600.
2008 Jang, J.-H., Mathur, R., Liermann, L., Ruebush, S., and Brantley, S. L. An iron isotope signature related to electron transfer between aqueous ferrous iron and goethite. Chemical Geology 250, 40-48.
2008 Buss, H. L., Sak, P. B., Webb, S. M., and Brantley, S. L. Weathering of the Rio Blanco quartz diorite, Luquillo Mountains Puerto Rico: Coupling oxidation, dissolution and fracturing. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 72, 4488-4507.
2008 Brantley, S.L., Bandstra, J., Moore, J., and White, A.F. Modelling chemical depletion profiles in regolith. Geoderma 145:3, 494-504.
2008 Brantley, S. L. Understanding Soil Time. Science 321, 1454-1455.
2008 Washton, N.M., Brantley, S.L., and Mueller, K.T. Probing the molecular-level control of aluminosilicate dissolution: A sensitive solid-state NMR proxy for reactive surface area. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 72:24, 5949-5961.
2008 Fischer, T.B., Heaney, P.J., Jang, J-H., Ross, D.E., Brantley, S.L., Post, J.E., Tien, M. Continuous -time resolved X-ray diffraction of the biocatalyzed reduction Mn oxide. American Mineralogist 93:11-12, 1929-1932.
2007 Conrad, C. F., Icopini, G. A., Yasahura, H., Bandstra, J. Z., Brantley, S. L., and Heaney, P.J. Modeling the kinetics of nanocolloid formation and precipitation in logically relevant aqueous solutions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71:3, 531-542
2007 Buss, H.L., Luttge, A., and Brantley, S.L. Etch pit formation on iron silicate surfaces
during siderophore-promoted dissolution.dissolution. Chemical Geology 240: 326-342.
2007 Hausrath E. M., Liermann L. J., House C. H., Ferry J. G., and Brantley S. L. The effect of methanogen growth on mineral substrates: will Ni markers of methanogen-based communities be detectable in the rock record? Geobiology 5(1), 49-61.
2007 Wasylenki, L.E., Liermann, L.J., Mathur, R., Gordon, G.W., Brantley, S.L., and Anbar, A.D. Metallomics and MC-ICP-MS: Isotope fractionation during metal uptake. JAAS Metallomics II Special Issue. 22, 905-910.
2007 Liermann, L., Hausrath, L. and Brantley, S. Assimilatory and dissimilatory processes of microorganisms affecting metals in the environment. JAAS Metallomics II Special Issue. 22, 867-877.
2007 Navarre-Sitchler, A. and Brantley, S. Basalt weathering across scales. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 261, 321-334.
2007 Ross, D.E., Ruebush, S., Brantley, S., Hartshorne, R. S., Clarke, T. A., Richardson, D. J., and Tien, M. Characterization of protein-protein interactions involved in iron reduction by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73:18, 5797-5808.
2007 Lebedeva, M.I., Fletcher, R.C., Balashov, V.N., and Brantley, S.L. A reaction diffusion model describing transformation of bedrock to saprolite. Chemical Geology 244:3-4, 624-645.
2007 Brantley, S.L., Goldhaber, M.B., and Ragnarsdottir, V. Crossing disciplines and scales to understand the Critical Zone. Elements 3, 307-314.