Brigitte Wopenka

Senior Research Scientist and Laser Raman Facilities Specialist
Ph.D., Technical University of Vienna, 1982

Dr. Wopenka is an analytical chemist who specializes in the application of micro-sampling vibrational spectroscopy. She uses micro-Raman, micro-FTIR, and micro-fluorescence techniques to study samples from the Earth, the Moon, and the stars. Her work involves the qualitative and quantitative analysis of fluid inclusions, carbonaceous materials, gems, meteorites, interplanetary dust particles, interstellar grains, and biomaterials (bones, dentin, enamel). Together with her colleague Professor Jill Dill Pasteris , she set up one of the first laser Raman microprobe laboratories in the United States in 1983 (a single-channel Jobin-Yvon RAMANOR U-1000). Since then, our Laser Raman Spectroscopic Facility has acquired two more laser Raman microprobes (a multichannel Jobin-Yvon S-3000; retired in 2001), and an integrated, fiber-optically coupled microscope-spectrometer-detector system (multichannel HoloLab from Kaiser Optical Systems), and continues to be on the forefront in the application of the Raman microprobe technique to problems of geological and mineralogical nature.

Dr. Wopenka's past and present research projects involve the following:

      Structural characterization of graphites and kerogens

      Medical mineralogy and biomineralization (from a whale rostrum to mouse bones)

      Raman spectroscopy in situ on the sea floor (in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Area Research Institute)

      Raman identification of high-pressure polymorphs of olivine, pyroxene and apatite
     (e.g., wadsleyite, ringwoodite, majorite) in heavily shocked meteorites

      Structure and thermal conductivity of pyrope-majorite garnets and hibonites relevant for the Earth's mantle
     (in collaboration with Anne M. Hofmeister)

      Archeological studies (mineralogical composition of ancient Greek pottery)

      Fingerprint identification of minerals and their polymorphs with special emphasis on zeolites and kornerupines

      Interpretation of site and factor group analyses, crystal field interactions,
     and site group splittings of phosphate minerals (apatites and whitlockites)

      Laser-induced fluorescence studies of trivalent rare earth element ions

      Quantification of the structural change in metamict zircons caused by the radioactive decay of U and Th

      Structural characterization of interstellar grains (SiC and graphite)

      Analysis of individual fluid inclusions and individual interplanetary dust particles
     by Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy

      Use of Raman analyses of fluid inclusions in the C-O-H-N system (e.g., CO₂, CH₄, N₂, H₂O)
     to obtain answers to geological questions (e.g., volatile budget of the 1991 catastrophic eruption
     of Mt. Pinatubo; evidence for highly acidic Permian lake waters due to the presence of bisulfate
     in fluid inclusions in halite from the Opeche Shale)

      Vibrational spectroscopic characterization of natural and synthetic gems, and their artifacts

Space Sciences:

T. S. Sharp,  A. El Goresy,  B. Wopenka,  and M. Chen  (1999) A post-stishovite SiO₂ phase in the meteorite Shergotty: Implications for impact events and the Earth's lower mantle. Science 284, 1511-1513.

B. Wopenka., B.L. Jolliff., E. Zinner E., and D.T. Kremser (1996) Trace-element zoning and incipient metamictization in a lunar zircon: Application of three different microprobe techniques. American Mineralogist 81, 902-912.

M. Chen, T. G. Sharp, A. El Goresy, B. Wopenka, and X. Xie (1996) The majorite-pyrope + magnesiowüstite assemblage:  Constraints on the history of shock veins in chondrites. Science 271, 1570-1573.

B. Wopenka, M. Chen, and A. El Goresy  (1996) Microsampling Raman spectroscopy: A nifty technique for the unambiguous in-situ identification of micrometer-sized shock-induced polymorphs in L6 chondrites. Meteoritics 31, 155-156.

M. Chen, T.G. Sharp, A. El Goresy, B. Wopenka, and  X. Xie  (1996) The high temperature assemblage majorite-pyrope solid solution + magnesiowüstite: A new constraint on the high pressure and temperature history of shock veins in chondrites. Science 271, 1570-1573.

A. Virag, B. Wopenka, S. Amari, E. Zinner, E. Anders, and R. Lewis (1992) Isotopic,optical and trace element properties of large single SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 1715-1733.

L. J. Allamandola, S.A. Sandford, and B. Wopenka (1987) Interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the carbon in interplanetary dust particles and meteorites. Science 237, 56–59.

T. Bernatowicz, G. Fraundorf, T. Ming, E. Anders, B. Wopenka, E. Zinner, and P. Fraundorf (1987) Evidence for interstellar SiC in the Murray carbonaceous meteorite. Nature 330, 728–730.

Kerogens and Graphites:

J. D. Pasteris and B. Wopenka (2002) Images of the Earth's earliest fossils? Nature 420, 476-477.

F. J. Luque,  J. D. Pasteris,  B.  Wopenka,   M.  Rodas, and J. F.  Barrenechea (1998)  Natural fluid-deposited graphite: Mineralogical characteristics and mechanisms of formation. American Journal of Science 298, 471- 498.

E. Zinner, S. Amari, B. Wopenka, and R. S. Lewis (1995) Interstellar graphites in meteorites: Isotopic compositions and structural properties of single graphite grains from Murchison. Meteoritics, 30, 209-226.

B. Wopenka and J. D. Pasteris (1993) Structural characterization of kerogens to granulite–facies graphite:  Applicability of Raman microprobe spectroscopy.  American Mineralogist 78, 533-557.

J. D. Pasteris  and B. Wopenka (1991) Raman spectra of graphite as indicators of degree of metamorphism.  Canadian Mineralogist 29, 1–9

B. Wopenka (1988) Raman Observations on individual interplanetary dust particles. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 88, 221–231.

B. Wopenka and J. D. Pasteris (1988) "Graphite" in geological samples:  Raman spectroscopic misfits?  Microbeam Analysis–1988 (D. E. Newbury, ed.) San Francisco Press, 196–200.

Medical Mineralogy:

B. Wopenka, J. Pasteris, K. Rogers (2002) Are the properties of bioapatite different in bone with different percent mineralization?  Geol. Soc. Amer. Abstracts with Programs 34, 311.

J.J. Freeman,  B.Wopenka, M.J. Silva, and J.D. Pasteris (2001) Raman spectroscopic detection of changes in bioapatite in mouse femora as a function of age and in-vitro fluoride treatment. Calcified Tissue International 68,156-162.

J. D. Pasteris, B. Wopenka,  J. J. Freeman,V. L. Young, and  H. J. Brandon (1999)  Medical mineralogy as a new challenge to the geologist: Silicates in human mammary tissue?  American Mineralogist 84, 997-1008.

J. D. Pasteris, B. Wopenka, J. J. Freeman, V. L. Young, and H. J. Brandon (1999) Analysis of breast implant capsular tissue for crystalline silica and other refractile phases.  Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 103, 1273-1276.

Fluid Inclusions:

K. C. Benison, R. H. Goldstein, B. Wopenka,  R. Burruss, and J. D. Pasteris (1998) Extremely acid Permian lakes and groundwaters in North America. Nature 392, 911-914.

J. D. Pasteris, J. C. Seitz, G. B. Morgan, and B. Wopenka (1993) CH₄-rich inclusions from quartz veins in the Valley-and-Ridge province and the anthracite fields of the Pennsylvania Appalachians-Discussion. American Mineralogist 78, 216-219.

Pasteris J. D., Wopenka B., Wang A., and Harris T. N. (1996) Relative timing of fluid and anhydrite saturation: Another consideration in the sulfur budget of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. In Fire and Mud: Eruptions and Lahars of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines (C.G. Newhall and R.S. Punongbayan, eds.), pp.875-891, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Quezon City and University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1126 pp.

B. Wopenka, J. D. Pasteris, and J. J. Freeman (1990) Analysis of individual fluid inclusions by FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54, 519–533.

J. D. Pasteris, B. Wopenka, and J. C. Seitz (1988) Practical aspects of quantitative laser Raman microprobe spectroscopy for the study of fluid inclusions.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 52, 979–988.

B. Wopenka and J. D. Pasteris (1987) Raman intensities and detection limits of geochemically relevant gas mixtures for a laser Raman microprobe. Analytical Chemistry 59, 2165–2170.

J. C. Seitz, J. D. Pasteris, and B. Wopenka (1987) Characterization of CO₂ – CH₄ – H₂O fluid inclusions by microthermometry and laser Raman microprobe spectroscopy:  Inferences for clathrate and fluid equilibria.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 51, 1651–1664.

Others:

A.M Hofmeister, P.A. Giesting, B. Wopenka, G.D. Gwanmesia, and B. L. Jolliff (2003) Vibrational spectroscopy of pyrope-majorite garnets: structure and order. American Mineralogist, in review.

P.G. Brewer, J. Pasteris, G. Malby, E. Peltzer, S. White, J. Freeman, B. Wopenka, M. Brown, and D. Cline (2002) Laser Raman spectroscopy used to study the ocean at 3600-m depth.  EOS-Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 83, 469-470.

B. Wopenka, R. Popelka, J.D. Pasteris, and S. Rotroff (2002) Understanding the mineralogical composition of ancient Greek pottery through Raman microprobe spectroscopy. Applied Spectroscopy 56, 1320-1328.

B. Wopenka, J. J. Freeman, and E. Grew (1999) Raman spectroscopic identification of B-free and B-rich kornerupine (prismatine). American Mineralogist 84, 550-554.

B.  Wopenka, J. J. Freeman, and T. Nikischer (1998) Raman spectroscopic identification of fibrous natural zeolites. Applied Spectroscopy 52, 54-63.

See also Department Publications

314-935-4771	bwopenka@wustl.edu
314-935-7361