In addition to forming hydrocarbon traps, Gulf Coast salt domes serve as important economic deposits of native sulfur and metal sulfides. However, the geochemical processes that create these deposits are poorly understood and traditional isotope analysis is limited in its ability to discern between microbial and thermochemical reduction of sulfur. My research employs multiple isotope analysis of elemental sulfur from Boling Dome and Main Pass Dome cap rock in order to determine the preferred chemical pathways for elemental sulfur production in cap rock systems.  

Results are on the way!