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Dr. George W. Luther, III

Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies;
Joint appointments with:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering;
Department of Plant and Soil Science and
Honorary Professorship:
Cardiff University - Wales, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences

University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies
700 Pilottown Rd.
Lewes, Delaware 19958
Phone: (302) 645-4208
Fax: (302) 645-4007
luther@udel.edu

Education Research Interest Current ProjectsTeaching Current Research Group Former Students Former Post-Docs Selected Publications


Education

  • B.A., La Salle College (Chemistry)
  • Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh (Physical-Inorganic Chemistry)

Research Interests

My interests cover a wide range of areas including redox reactions in the environment, trace element speciation in marine waters and sediments including metal-ligand complexes, biogeochemical processes in marine environments, application of molecular orbital theory to geochemical processes, in situ electrochemistry and microelectrode technology.

Our group also emphasizes research that interfaces chemistry with biology with the view that chemistry drives biology.

Current Projects

  • NASA Astrobiology Institute-BIOsphere of Mars: Ancient and Recent Studies (BioMARS). Subcontract from the University of California, Berkeley (Jillian Banfield, PI, University of California, Berkeley; David Emerson, ATCC, and Eric Roden from the University of Wisconsin-Madison).
  • Metal sulfur complexes; metal sulfide multinuclear clusters and nanoparticles in the marine environment (David Rickard, University of Cardiff).
  • Development of In situ redox sensor and microelectrode technology for the determination of biologically relevant species in sediments, waters and cultures (with Donald Nuzzio, Analytical Instrument Systems, Inc.; Bjorn Sundby, McGill University and Martial Taillefert, Georgia Institute of Technology).
  • Sulfur and iron biogeochemistry at hydrothermal vents using in situ microelectrodes (with Tim Shank, WHOI; Rich Lutz, Rutgers University; James Childress, University of California, Santa Barbara; and Chuck Fisher, Penn State).
  • Anoxic environment research (Black Sea) with James Murray, Univ. of WA; Brad Tebo, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Sergey Konovalov, Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukraine); Chesapeake Bay; Inland Bays of Delaware; Lakes.
  • Metal speciation in the environment. Some of this work is done in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Metals in the Environment. (CSME)


Teaching

Marine Inorganic Chemistry; Chemical Oceanography; Electrochemistry Techniques. I have advised students in both the Oceanography program and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.


Current Research Group

  • Shufen "Sophie" Ma, Ph.D. student (M.S., Qingdao Institute of Chemical Engineering) - Trace metal biogeochemistry and toxicology; in situ methods for measuring environmentally relevant electroactive compounds. sma@udel.edu
  • Tommy Moore, Ph.D. student (M.A., Boston Univ.) tsmoore@udel.edu
  • Katherine M. Mullaugh, Ph.D. student (B.S., 2004, Allegheny College). mullaugh@udel.edu
  • Heather Nees, M.S. student (B.S., 2006, Muskingum College)
  • Mustafa Yucel, M.S. student (B.S., 2005, Middle East Technical University) - Ocean dynamics, climate, marine geochemistry and paleoceanography. myucel@udel.edu
  • Tim Waite, Postdoctoral Fellow (Ph.D., Oxford-Brookes University, Oxford, UK) - Iodine chemistry; electroanalytical chemistry. tjwaite@udel.edu
  • Christopher Janzen, Visiting Scholar from Susquehanna University. janzen@susqu.edu
  • Sergey Konovalov, Visiting Scholar from Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukraine. - He is working with Dr. Luther's research group on the chemistry of the Black Sea.
  • Tim Rozan, Assistant Professor, Physical Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown (Ph.D., Yale University) - Trace metal and sulfur speciation in marine and freshwater systems. trozan@sfu.ca

Former Students - Present positions

Former Postdocs - Present positions

Selected Publications

Luther, III, G. W., S. M. Theberge and D. Rickard. 2000. Determination of stability constants for metal-ligand complexes using the voltammetric oxidation wave of the anion/ligand and the DeFord and Hume formalism. Talanta 51, 11-20.

Witter, A. E., B. L. Lewis and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Iron speciation in the Arabian Sea. Deep Sea Research 47, 1517-1539.

Lewis, B. L. and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Processes controlling the distribution and cycling of manganese in the oxygen minimum zone of the Arabian Sea. Deep Sea Research 47, 1541-1561.

Witter, A. E., D. A. Hutchins, A. Butler and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Determination of conditional stability constants and kinetic constants for strong Fe-binding ligands in seawater. Marine Chemistry 69, 1-17.

Reysenbach, A. L., A. B. Banta, D. R. Boone, S. C. Cary and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Microbial essentials at hydrothermal vents. Nature 404, 835.

Taillefert, M., G. W. Luther, III and D. B. Nuzzio. 2000. The application of electrochemical tools for in situ measurements in aquatic systems: a review. Electroanalysis 12, 401-412.

Rozan, T. F., S. M. Theberge and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Quantifying elemental sulfur (S0), bisulfide (HS-) and polysulfides (Sx2-) using a voltammetric method. Analytica Chimica Acta 415, 175-184.

Dollhopf, M. E., K. H. Nealson, D. Simon and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Kinetics of Fe(III) and Mn(IV) reduction by the Black Sea strain of Shewanella putrefaciens using in situ solid state voltammetric Au/Hg electrodes. Marine Chemistry 70, 171-180.

Taillefert, M., A. B. Bono and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Reactivity of freshly formed Fe(III) in synthetic solutions and marine (pore)waters: voltammetric evidence of an aging process. Environmental Science and Technology 34, 2169-2177.

Anschutz, P., B. Sundby, L. Lefrançois, G. W. Luther, III and A. Mucci. 2000. Interactions between metal oxides and species of nitrogen and iodine in bioturbated marine sediments. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 64, 2751-2763.

Rozan, T. F., M. E. Lassman, D. P. Ridge and G. W. Luther, III. 2000. Evidence for Fe, Cu and Zn complexation as multinuclear sulfide clusters in oxic river waters. Nature 406, 879-882.

Luther, III, G. W., B. T. Glazer, L. Hohman, J. I. Popp, M. Taillefert, T. F. Rozan, P. J. Brendel, S. M. Theberge and D. B. Nuzzio. 2001. Sulfur speciation monitored in situ with solid state gold amalgam voltammetric microelectrodes: polysulfides as a special case in sediments, microbial mats and hydrothermal vent waters. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 3, 61-66.

Chadwell, S. J., D. Rickard and G. W. Luther, III. 2001. Electrochemical evidence for metal polysulfide complexes: Tetrasulfide (S42-) reactions with Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. Electroanalysis 13, 21-29.

Luther, III, G. W., T. F. Rozan, M. Taillefert, D. B. Nuzzio, C. Di Meo, T. M. Shank, R. A. Lutz and S. C. Cary. 2001. Chemical speciation drives hydrothermal vent ecology. Nature 410, 813-816.

Luther, III G. W., T. F. Rozan, A. E. Witter and B. Lewis. 2001. Metal organic complexation in the marine environment. Geochemical Transactions (Electronic Journal) 9.

Ruppel, D. T., S. C. Dexter, G. W. Luther, III. 2001. Role of manganese dioxide in corrosion in the presence of natural biofilms. Corrosion 57, 863-873.

Campbell, B. J., C. Jeanthon, J. E. Kostka, G. W. Luther, III and S. C. Cary. 2001. Growth and phylogenetic properties of novel bacteria belonging to the epsilon subdivision of the Proteobacteria enriched from Alvinella pompejana and deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Applied Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 67, 4566-4572.

Rozan, T. F. and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. An anion chromatography / ultraviolet detection method to determine nitrite, nitrate, and sulfide concentrations in saline (pore)waters. Marine Chemistry 77, 1-6.

Luther, III, G. W., S. M. Theberge, T. F. Rozan, D. Rickard, C. C. Rowlands and A. Oldroyd. 2002. Aqueous copper sulfide clusters as intermediates during copper sulfide formation. Environmental Science Technology 36, 394-402.

Witter, A. E. and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Abundance and seasonal distribution of seawater carbohydrates in the U.S. Middle Atlantic Bight and the Delaware estuary. Marine Chemistry, 77, 143-156.

Nuzzio, D. B., M. Taillefert, S. C. Cary, A. L. Reysenbach and G. W. Luther, III. In situ voltammetry at hydrothermal vents. 2002. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M. Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.) American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 3, Vol. 811, pp. 40-53.

Luther, III, G. W., A. Bono, M. Taillefert and S. C. Cary. 2002. A continuous flow electrochemical cell for analysis of chemical species and ions at high pressure: laboratory, shipboard and hydrothermal vent results. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M. Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.) American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 4, Vol. 811, pp. 54-73.

Cai, W. J., P. Zhao, Y. Wang, S. M. Theberge, A. Witter and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Porewater redox species, pH and pCO2 in aquatic sediments. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M.Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.). American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 10, Vol. 811, pp. 188-209.

Taillefert, M., T. F. Rozan, B. T. Glazer, J. Herszage, R. E. Trouwborst, and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Seasonal variations of soluble organic-Fe(III) in sediment porewaters as revealed by voltammetric microelectrodes. 2002. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M. Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.). American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 13, Vol. 811, pp. 247-264.

Glazer, B. T., S. C. Cary, L. Hohmann and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. In situ sulfur speciation using Au/Hg microelectrode as an aid to microbial characterization of an intertidal salt marsh microbial mat. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M. Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.) American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 14, Vol. 811, pp. 283-305.

Rozan,T. F. and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Voltammetric evidence suggesting Ag speciation is dominated by sulfide complexation in river water. In Environmental Electrochemistry: Analyses of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (M. Taillefert and T. Rozan, Eds.) American Chemical Society Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D. C., Ch. 19, Vol. 811, pp. 371-380.

Farrenkopf, A. M. and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Iodine chemistry reflects productivity and denitrification in the Arabian Sea: Evidence for flux of dissolved species from sediments of western India into the OMZ. Deep-Sea Research II 49, 2303-2318.

Luther, III, G. W. and J. I. Popp. 2002. Kinetics of the abiotic reduction of polymeric manganese dioxide by nitrite: an anaerobic nitrification reaction. Aquatic Geochemistry, Vol. 8, 15-36.

Rozan, T. F., M. Taillefert, R. E. Trouwborst, B. T. Glazer, S. Ma, J. Herszage, L. M. Valdes, K. S. Price and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. Iron, sulfur and phosphorus cycling in the sediments of a shallow coastal bay: Implications for sediment nutrient release and benthic macroalgal blooms. Limnology Oceanography Vol. 47, 1346-1354.

Taillefert, M., V. C. Hover, T. F. Rozan, S. M. Theberge and G. W. Luther, III. 2002. The influence of sulfides on soluble Fe(III) in anoxic sediment porewaters. Estuaries Vol. 25, 1088-1096.

Luther, III, G.W., B. Glazer, S. Ma, R. Trouwborst, B.R. Schultz, G. Druschel, and C. Kraiya. 2003. Iron and sulfur chemistry in a stratified Lake: evidence for iron rich sulfide complexes. Aquatic Geochemistry 9, 87-110.

Druschel, G. K., R. J. Hamers, G.W. Luther, III and J. F. Banfield. 2003. Kinetics and mechanism of trithionate and tetrathionate oxidation at low pH by hydroxyl radicals. Aquatic Geochemistry 9, 145-164.

Sundby, B., C. Vale, M. Caetano and G.W. Luther, III. 2003. Redox chemistry in the root zone of a salt marsh sediment in the Tagus Estuary, Portugal. Aquatic Geochemistry 9, 257-271.

Rozan, T. F., G.W. Luther, III, D. Ridge, and S. Robinson. 2003. Determination of Pb complexation in oxic and sulfidic waters using Pseudovoltammetry. Environmental Science & Technology 37, 3845-3852.

Achilles, K.M., T.M. Church, S.W. Wilhelm, G.W. Luther, III and D.A. Hutchins. 2003. Bioavailability of iron to Trichodesmium colonies in the westeren subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Limnology & Oceanography 48, 2250-2255.

Konovalov, S.K., G.W. Luther, III, G.E. Friederich, D.B. Nuzzio, B.M. Tebo, J.W. Murray, T. Oguz, B. Glazer, R.E. Trouwborst, B. Clement, K.J. Murray and A.S. Romanov. 2003. Lateral injection of oxygen and the Bosporus plume: fingers of oxidizing potential in the Black Sea. Limnology & Oceanography 48, 2369-2376.

Dexter, S. C., K. Xu and G. W. Luther, III. 2003. Mn cycling in marine biofilms: effect on the rate of localized corrosion. Biofouling Vol. 19, 139-149.

Peak, D., G. W. Luther, III and D. L. Sparks. 2003. ATR-FTIR spectroscopic studies of boric acid adsorption on hydrous ferric oxide. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 67, 2551-2560.

Truesdale, V. W., G. W. Luther, III and J. E. Greenwood. 2003. The kinetics of iodine disproportionation: a system of parallel second-order reactions sustained by a multi-species pre-equilibrium. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 5, 3428-3435.

Herszage, J., dos Santos Afonso, M. and G. W. Luther, III. 2003. Oxidation of cysteine and glutathione by soluble polymeric MnO2. Environmental Science & Technology 37, 332-3338.

Di Meo-Savoie, C.A., G.W. Luther, III and S.C. Cary. 2004. Physiochemical characterization of the microhabitat of Alvinella popejana, a hydrothermal vent annelid. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 68, 2055-2066.

Luther, III, G.W., S. Ma, R. Trouwborst, B. Glazer, M. Blickley, R.W. Scarborough and M. G. Mensinger. 2004. The roles of anoxia, H2S, and storm events in fish kills of dead-end canals of Delaware Inland Bays. Estuaries 27, 551-560.

Glazer, B. T., A. G. Marsh, K. Stierhoff and G. W. Luther III. 2004. The dynamic response of optical oxygen sensors and voltammetric electrodes to temporal changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations. Analytica Chimica Acta 518, 93-100.

Luther, III, G. W. 2004. Kinetics of the reactions of water, hydroxide ion and sulfide species with CO2, OCS and CS2: frontier molecular orbital considerations. Aquatic Geochemistry 10, 81-97.

Luther, III, G. W. 2004. Activation of diatomic and triatomic molecules for the synthesis of organic compounds. American Geophysical Union Monograph RTI on The Subsurface Biosphere, Wilcock, W. S., D. E. DeLong and S. C. Cary (Eds.), 191-197.

Roden, E.E., D Sobolev, B. Glazer and G.W. Luther, III. 2004. Potential for microscale bacterial Fe redox cycling at the aerobic-anaerobic interface. Geomicrobiology Journal 21, 379-391.

Komada, T., C. E. Reimers, G. W. Luther, III and D. J. Burdige. 2004. Factors affecting dissolved organic matter dynamics in mixed-redox to anoxic coastal sediments. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 68, 4009-4111.

Luther, III, G. W. 2005. Manganese(II) oxidation and Mn(IV) reduction in the environment—two one-electron transfer steps versus a single two-electron step. Geomicrobiology Journal 22,195-203.

Sundby, B, M. Caetano, C. Vale, C. Gobeil, G. W. Luther III and D. B. Nuzzio. 2005. Root induced cycling of lead in salt marsh sediments. Environmental Science & Technology 39, 2080-2086.

Konovalov, S.K., J. W. Murray and G. W. Luther, III. 2005. Basic processes of Black Sea biogeochemistry. Oceanography 18(2), 24-35.

Luther, III, G.W. and D. T. Rickard. 2005. Metal sulfide cluster complexes and their biogeochemical importance in the environment. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 7, 389-407.

Holt, P.D., R. R. Reid, B. Lewis, G. W. Luther, III and A. Butler. 2005. Fe(III) coordination chemistry of alterobactinA: A siderophore from the marine bacterium alteromonas luteoviolacea. Inorganic Chemistry 44,7671-7677.

Luther, III, G.W. 2005. Acid volatile sulfide (AVS)-a comment. Marine Chemistry 97,198-205.

Bai, X., S.C. Dexter and G.W. Luther. 2006. Application of EIS with Au-Hg microelectrode in determining electron transfer mechanisms Electrochimica Acta 51 (8-9): 1524-1533.

Waite, T.J., C. Kraiya, R.E. Trouwborst, S.F. Ma and G.W. Luther. 2006. An investigation into the suitability of bismuth as an alternative to gold-amalgam as a working electrode for the in situ determination of chemical redox species in the natural environment. Electroanalysis 18 (12):1167-1172.

Rickard, D. and Luther III, G.W. 2006. Metal sulfide complexes and clusters. In: Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry on "Sulfide Mineralogy and Geochemistry" (Vaughan, D.J. ed), Volume 61, 421-504.

Tsang, J.J., Rozan, T.F., Hsu-Kim, H., Mullaugh, K.M. and Luther III, G.W. 2006. Pseudopolarographic determination of CD2+ complexation in freshwater. Environmental Science Technology 40, 5395-5401. DOI:10.1021/es060404c

Glazer, B.T., Luther III, G.W., Konbovalov, S.K., Friederich, G.E., Nuzzio, D.B., Trouwborst, R.E., Tebo, B.M., Clement, B., Murray, K., Romanov, A.S. 2006. Documenting the subozic zone of the Black Sea via high-resolution real-time redox profiling. Deep Sea Research II 53, 1740-1755.

Glazer, B.T., Luther III, G.W., Konovalov, S.K., Friederich, G.E., Nuzzio, D.B., Trouwborst, R.E., Tebo, B.M., Clement, B. and Romanov, A.S. 2006. Spatial and temporal variability of the Black Sea suboxic zone. Deep Sea Research II 53, 1756-1768.

Konovalov, S.K., Murray, J.W., Luther, G.W. and Tebo, B.M. 2006. Processes controlling the redox budget for the oxic/anoxic water column of the Black Sea. Deep Sea Research II 53, 1817-1841.

Trouwborst, R.E., Clement, B.G., Tebo, B.M., Glazer, B.T. and Luther III, G.W. 2006. Soluble Mn(III) in suboxic zones. Science 313, 1955-1957.

Luther III, G.W. 2006. Acceptance of the 2004 Clair C. Patterson Award. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 70, S14-S15.

Ma, S., Noble, A., Butcher, D., Trouwborst, R.E. and Luther III, G.W. 2006. Removal of H2S via an iron catalytic cycle and iron sulfide precipitation in the water column of dead end tributaries Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 70, 461-472.

Ma, S., Whereat, E. and Luther III, G.W. 2006. Shift of algal community structure in dead end lagoons of the Delaware Bays during seasonal anoxia. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 44, 279-290.

Luther, III, G. W. and E. A. Boyle. 2007. Introduction: Chemical Oceanography. Chemical Reviews 107, 305-307.

Rickard, D. and G. W. Luther, III. 2007. Chemistry of Iron Sulfides. Chemical Reviews 107, 514-562.

Luther, III, G. W., B. T. Glazer, S. Ma, R. E. Trouwborst, T. S. Moore, E. Metzger, C. Kraiya, T. J.Waite, G. Druschel, B. Sundby, M. Taillefert, D. B. Nuzzio, T. M. Shank, B. L. Lewis and P. J. Brendel. Use of voltammetric solid-state (micro)electrodes for studying biogeochemical processes: laboratory measurements to real time measurements with an in situ electrochemical analyzer (ISEA). Marine Chemistry, in press.

 

 

 

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Updated: December 22, 2011

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