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W. Brian Clarke  Professor Emeritus Department of Physics and Astronomy  McMaster University  Hamilton, ON  L8S 4M1  Office:  NRB 107  Phone:  (905) 525-9140 x24454  FAX:    (905) 546-1252  E-mail: wbclarke@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca

  Research Interests

W.B. Clarke was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin, and received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in 1962. He joined the McMaster faculty in 1965, after postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Clarke's research is in rare gas mass spectrometry applied to the fields of Geophysics and Medicine. For example, the rare isotope 3He is used to trace flow patterns in the oceans, determine the "age" of groundwater, and obtain information regarding geothermal energy sources. In recent years, some of the experimental techniques developed for oceanography have been used to determine the ultra-trace elements lithium and boron in various biological systems including human blood, plasma etc. At present, these studies show that both elements have a definite physiological role at normal levels in humans, and that some of the lithium is "bound" to plasma proteins.
 

Selected Publications

• "A validation of the 3H/3He method for determining groundwater recharge", D.K. Solomon, S.L. Schiff, R.J. Poreda and W.B. Clarke, Water Resources Research 29, 2951 (1993).
• "Regulation of lithium and baron levels in a normal human blood: Environmental and genetic considerations", R.D. Barr, W.B. Clarke, R.M. Clarke, J. Venturelli, G.R. Norman, and R.G. Downing, J. Lab. Clin. Med. 121, 614 (1993).
• "Search for 3H, 3He, and 4He in D2-leaded Titanium", W.B. Clarke and R.M. Clarke, J. Fusion Technol. 21, 170 (1992).

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