Toshiko Mayeda Explained

Toshiko Mayeda
Birth Place:Tacoma, Washington
Birth Name:Toshiko K. Kuki
Workplaces:University of Chicago
Alma Mater:University of Chicago
Academic Advisors:Robert N. Clayton
Known For:Study of meteorites and of isotopes of oxygen

Toshiko K. Mayeda (née Kuki) (1923–13 February 2004) was a Japanese American chemist who worked at the Enrico Fermi Institute in the University of Chicago. She worked on climate science and meteorites from 1958 to 2004.

Early life and education

Toshiko Mayeda was born in Tacoma, Washington.[1] She grew up in Yokkaichi, Mie, and Osaka. When the United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she and her father Matsusaburo Kuki were sent to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center.[2] [3] Whilst there she met her future husband, Harry Mayeda.[4] After the war, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1949.[5]

Research

Mayeda worked initially as a laboratory assistant to Harold Urey at the University of Chicago, where she was hired initially to wash glassware.[6] [7] They used mass spectrometry to measure oxygen isotopes in the shells of marine molluscs which gave information on the prehistoric temperatures of ocean waters and hence paleoclimates.[8] Urey developed the field of cosmochemistry and with Mayeda studied primitive meteorites, also by using oxygen isotope analysis.[9] Later, she worked with Cesare Emiliani on isotopic evaluation of the ice age.[10] [11] When Urey retired from the university in 1958, Mayeda was persuaded to remain there by Robert N. Clayton, and collaborate with him on applications of mass spectroscopy.[12] She was described as an indomitable research assistant.[13] [14]

Mayeda and Clayton's first research paper considered the use of Bromine pentafluoride to extract Isotopes of oxygen from rocks and minerals.[15] It remains their most cited work. From the 1970s until the late 1990s Mayeda and Clayton became famous for their use of oxygen isotopes to classify meteorites. They developed several tests that were used across the field of meteorite and lunar sample analysis.[16] [17] [18] They studied variations in the abundances of the stable isotopes of oxygen, oxygen-16, oxygen-17 and oxygen-18,[19] and deduced differences in the formation temperatures of the meteorites.[20] They also worked on the mass spectroscopy and chemistry of the Allende meteorite.[21] They published many scientific papers on the "oxygen thermometer" and analysed approximately 300 lunar samples that had been collected during NASAs Apollo Program.[8] In 1992, a new type of meteorite, the Brachinite, was identified.[22] Clayton and Mayeda studied the Achondrite meteorites and showed that variations in the oxygen-17 isotope ratios within a planet are due to inhomogeneities in the Solar Nebula.[23] They analysed Shergotty meteorites, proposing that there could have been a water-rich atmosphere on Mars[24] and studied the Bocaiuva meteorite, finding that the Eagle Station meteorite was formed due to impact heating.[25]

In 2002 Mayeda was awarded the Society Merit Prize from the Geochemical Society of Japan. In the same year, an asteroid was named after her. Mayeda's husband, Harry, died in 2003. Mayeda suffered from cancer and died on February 13, 2004. In 2008, the book Oxygen in the Solar System was dedicated to Clayton and Mayeda.[26]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Toshiko K. Mayeda, Chemist, 1923-2004. www-news.uchicago.edu. en. 2018-08-05.
  2. Web site: Japanese American Internee Data File: Toshiko Kuki. National Archives and Records Administration. August 18, 2019.
  3. Web site: Social Welfare Appointment Notes. 1943-09-20. Berkeley. 2018-08-05.
  4. Web site: Japanese American Archival Collection. Sacramento State. 2018-08-06.
  5. Web site: The University of Chicago Magazine: June 2004. magazine.uchicago.edu. 2018-08-05.
  6. Van Tiggelen. Bridget. 2019. The women behind the periodic table. Nature. en. 565. 561.
  7. News: Toshiko K. Mayeda, 81. tribunedigital-chicagotribune. 2018-08-05. en.
  8. Book: 10.1142/9789811206290_0033 . Toshiko Mayeda and the Isotopes of Oxygen . Women in Their Element . 2019 . Shindell . Matthew . 415–421 . 978-981-12-0628-3. 201220619 .
  9. Book: Shindell, Matthew . 9780226662084 . The Life and Science of Harold C. Urey . 2019 . University of Chicago Press . Chicago, Illinois. Shindell.
  10. Emiliani . C. . Mayeda . T. . Selli. R.. 1961. Paleotemperature Analysis of the Plio-Pleistocene Section at Le Castella, Calabria, Southern Italy. Geological Society of America Bulletin. en. 72. 5. 679. 10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72[679:PAOTPS]2.0.CO;2. 0016-7606.
  11. Book: The composition of matter : symposium honouring Johannes Geiss on the occasion of his 80th birthday. 2007. Springer. Steiger, R. von (Rudolf), Gloeckler, G., Mason, G. M. (Glenn Marggraf), 1943-, Geiss, Johannes., International Space Science Institute.. 9780387741840. New York. 209984881.
  12. Clayton. Robert N.. May 2007. Isotopes: From Earth to the Solar System. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. en. 35. 1. 1–19. 10.1146/annurev.earth.35.092006.145059. 0084-6597. 2007AREPS..35....1C. free.
  13. Citation on the Award of the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society to Dr. Robert N. Clayton. Meteoritics. 17. 4. 171–174. 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1982.tb00090.x. 1982. Wood. John A..
  14. The indomitable Toshiko Mayeda . Shindell . Matthew . March 2020 . Chemistry World . 17 . 3 . 36–37.
  15. 1963-01-01. The use of bromine pentafluoride in the extraction of oxygen from oxides and silicates for isotopic analysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. en. 27. 1. 43–52. 10.1016/0016-7037(63)90071-1. 0016-7037. 1963GeCoA..27...43C. Clayton. Robert N.. Mayeda. Toshiko K..
  16. Web site: Robert N. Clayton, 'one of the giants' of cosmochemistry, 1930-2017. www.myscience.org. 11 January 2018 . en. 2018-08-05.
  17. Web site: In Memorian, Bob Clayton (1930–2017). Elements Magazine. 2018-08-06.
  18. 1976-04-01. A classification of meteorites based on oxygen isotopes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. en. 30. 1. 10–18. 10.1016/0012-821X(76)90003-0. 0012-821X. 1976E&PSL..30...10C. Clayton. Robert N.. Onuma. Naoki. Mayeda. Toshiko K..
  19. Book: Burbine, Thomas H.. Asteroids: Astronomical and Geological Bodies. 2016-12-15. Cambridge University Press. 9781316867396. 89. en.
  20. 1972-02-01. Oxygen isotope cosmothermometer. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. en. 36. 2. 169–188. 10.1016/0016-7037(72)90005-1. 0016-7037. 1972GeCoA..36..169O. Onuma. Naoki. Clayton. Robert N.. Mayeda. Toshiko K..
  21. 1977-03-01. Distribution of the pre-solar component in Allende and other carbonaceous chondrites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. en. 34. 2. 209–224. 10.1016/0012-821X(77)90005-X. 0012-821X. 1977E&PSL..34..209C. Clayton. R. N.. Onuma. N.. Grossman. L.. Mayeda. T. K..
  22. E.. Nehru, C.. M.. Prinz. K.. Weisberg, M.. M.. Ebihara. N.. Clayton, R.. K.. Mayeda, T.. July 1992. Brachinites: A New Primitive Achondrite Group. Meteoritics. en. 27. 3. 267. 0026-1114. 1992Metic..27R.267N.
  23. 1996-06-01. Oxygen isotope studies of achondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. en. 60. 11. 1999–2017. 10.1016/0016-7037(96)00074-9. 0016-7037. 1996GeCoA..60.1999C. Clayton. Robert N.. Mayeda. Toshiko K..
  24. Bouvier. A.. etal . 2009. Martian meteorite chronology and the evolution of the interior of Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 280. 1–4. 285–295. 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.042. 2009E&PSL.280..285B.
  25. Malvin. Daniel J.. Wasson. John T.. Clayton. Robert N.. Mayeda. Toshiko K.. Curvello. Walter Silva. Bocaiuva-A Silicate-Inclusion Bearing Iron Meteorite Related to the Eagle-Station Pallasites. 1985. Meteoritics. 20. 2. 259–273. 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1985.tb00864.x. 1985Metic..20..259M . 0026-1114.
  26. Web site: Solar system book dedicated to Robert Clayton, 'Mr. Oxygen'. University of Chicago News. 22 May 2008 . en. 2018-08-05.

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