Background and Research Interests

Naomi Marks has a background in mass spectrometry, isotope geochemistry, and ore deposit geology. Her research focus is on

• Electron microscopy
• Formation and evolution of meteorites and planets
• Geochemistry of uranium ore concentrates and early fuel cycle materials
• Geochronology and geochemistry of planetary samples
• Hydrothermal alteration and water-rock interaction in active and fossil hydrothermal systems and their relation to ore forming processes
• Isotopic and chemical evolution of the early solar system materials
• Mineralogy and petrology of meteorites
• National nuclear forensics libraries and databases
• Nuclear forensics and attribution
• Thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Marks’s recent work has been in developing National Nuclear Forensic Library capabilities and algorithms for provenance assessment for front-end fuel cycle materials, with a particular expertise in uranium ore concentrate. She has extensive experience in international engagements in nuclear forensics and has provided training and engagement for countries including Argentina, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, as well as numerous International Atomic Energy Agency sponsored trainings, events, and consultancies. Marks is a member of the International Technical Working Group Nuclear Forensics Laboratories Steering Committee.

Ph.D., Geology, University of California, Davis, 2010

M.S., Geology, University of California, Davis, 2007

B.S., Earth Science, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2000

1. Weisz, D. G., Jacobsen, B., Marks, N. E., Knight, K. B., Isselhardt, B. H., and Matzel, J. E. (2018). Diffusive mass transport in agglomerated glassy fallout from a near-surface nuclear test. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 223, 377–388.
2. Weisz, David G., Benjamin Jacobsen, Naomi E. Marks, Kim B. Knight, Brett H. Isselhardt, Jennifer E. Matzel, Peter K. Weber, Stan G. Prussin, and Ian D. Hutcheon. (2017). Deposition of vaporized species onto glassy fallout from a near-surface nuclear test. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 201, 410–426.
3. Brennecka, G. A., Borg, L. E., Romaniello, S. J., Souders, A. K., Shollenberger, Q. R., Marks, N. E., and Wadhwa, M. (2017). A renewed search for short-lived 126 Sn in the early Solar System: Hydride generation MC-ICPMS for high sensitivity Te isotopic analysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 201, 331–344.
4. Kristo, M.K., Gaffney, A.M., Marks, N., Knight, K.B., Cassata, W.S., and Hutcheon, I.D. (2016). Nuclear Forensic Science: Analysis of Nuclear Material Out of Regulatory Control. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 44, 555–79.
5. Marks, N. E., Borg, L. E., Eppich, G. R., Gaffney, A. M., Genneti, V. G., Hutcheon, I. D., ... and Roberts, S. K. (2015). Technical Report on the Behavior of Trace Elements, Stable Isotopes, and Radiogenic Isotopes During the Processing of Uranium Ore to Uranium Ore Concentrate, LLNL-TR-674363, LLNL, Livermore, CA, United States.
6. Marks, N.E., Zierenberg, R.A., and Schiffman, P. (2015). Strontium and oxygen isotopic profiles through 3 km of hydrothermally altered oceanic crust in the Reykjanes Geothermal System, Iceland. Chemical Geology 412, 24–47.
7. Fowler, A.P.G., Zierenberg, R.A., Schiffman, P., Marks, N., and Fridleifsson, G.O., (2015) Evolution of fluid-rock interaction in the Reykjanes geothermal system, Iceland: Evidence from Iceland Deep Drilling Project core RN-17B. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 302, 47–63.
8. Marks, N. E., Borg, L. E., Hutcheon, I. D., Jacobsen, B., Clayton, R. N., and Mayeda, T. K. (2015). Samarium-Neodymium Chronology of an Allende Type A CAI AINO 1-16. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Abstracts 46, 2793.
9. Marks, N. E., Borg, L. E., Hutcheon, I. D., Jacobsen, B., and Clayton, R. N. (2014). Samarium–neodymium chronology and rubidium–strontium systematics of an Allende calcium–aluminum-rich inclusion with implications for 146 Sm half-life. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 405, 15–24.
10. Marks, N., Borg, L., Gaffney, A., Shearer, C., and Burger, P. (2014). Additional evidence for young ferroan anorthositic magmatism on the Moon from Sm-Nd isotopic measurements of 60016 clast 3A. In Lunar and Planetary Institute Science Conference Abstracts 45, 1129.
11. Borg, L. E., Brennecka, G. A., Marks, N. E., & Symes, S. J. K. (2014). Neodymium isotopic evolution of the solar system inferred from isochron studies of planetary materials. In Lunar and Planetary Institute Science Conference Abstracts 45, 1037.
12. Marks, N., Robel, M., Borg, M., Hutcheon, I., and Kristo, M. (2014). Using pattern classification and nuclear forensic signatures to link UOC to source rocks and purification processes (No. IAEA-CN--216).
13. K.M. Gillis, J.E. Snow, A. Klaus3, N. Abe, Á. Adrião, N. Akizawa, G. Ceuleneer, M.J. Cheadle, K. Faak, T.J. Falloon, S.A. Friedman, M.M. Godard, G. Guerin, Y. Harigane, A.J. Horst, T. Hoshide, B. Ildefonse, M.M. Jean, B.E. John8, J.H. Koepke, S. Machi, J. Maeda, N.E. Marks, A.M. McCaig, R. Meyer, A. Morris, T. Nozaka, M. Python, A. Saha, and R.P. Wintsch. (2014) Primitive Layered Gabbros from Fast-Spreading Lower Oceanic Crust, Nature 505.7482, 204–207
14. Marks, N., L.E. Borg, I.D.Hutcheon, B. Jacobsen, R.N. Clayton, and T.K. Mayeda (2012). Temporal and Spatial Heterogeneities in the Solar Nebula Reflected in Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd Systematics of Al3S4, an Allende Type B CAI. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference LXXIII.
15. Marks, N., P. Schiffman, and R. A. Zierenberg (2011). High-grade contact metamorphism in the Reykjanes geothermal system: Implications for fluid-rock interactions at mid-oceanic ridge spreading centers, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12(8), Q08007, doi:10.1029/2011GC003569.