Although geomorphic observations suggest that the Sierra Nevada has tilted so that the crest has risen 1–2 km since late Miocene time, deuterium and oxygen-18 isotope concentrations in Cenozoic geologic materials decrease eastward across California and Nevada similarly to those in modern, orographically induced precipitation, as if little change in Sierra Nevadan elevations has occurred since E...

Stable isotope analysis of feces can provide a non-invasive method for tracking the dietary habits of nearly any mammalian species. While fecal samples are often collected for macroscopic and genetic study, stable isotope analysis can also be applied to expand the knowledge of species-specific dietary ecology. It is somewhat unclear how digestion changes the isotope ratios of animals' diets, so...

Abstract The possibility of estimating groundwater inflow to irrigation drains in Minia, Egypt, using stable isotopes has been explored. The evaporation pan technique described here makes use of small variations in the concentration of naturally occurring stable isotopes (oxygen-18 and deuterium) in irrigation-fed groundwater and surface water as well as agricultural drainage water. The agreeme...

Tracking migratory animals has benefitted using measurements of naturally occurring stable isotopes of hydrogen (δ (2)H) in keratinous tissues such as hair and feathers to link animal origins to continental patterns or isoscapes of δ (2)H in precipitation. However, for most taxa, much less information exists on the use of stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ (18)O) despite the fact that δ (2)H and δ...

Stable isotopes are nonradioactive and can be safely administered to humans; yet, because of the isotopic difference, can be distinguished from the unlabeled moiety and thus trace the nutrient uptake and elimination. Stable isotope applications include measurement of nutrient absorption, determination of nutrient body stores, tracing routes of nutrient metabolism, measuring nutrient fluxes thro...

Terms such as isotopes and nuclear techniques often call to mind basic research of little or only minor practical importance for animal productivity and health. This is, however, not true. No other scientific tools have in our lifetime been of a significance equalling that of the isotopes in widening our insight into animal physiology and nutritional requirements. Last but not least, they have ...

Labelling molecules with stable isotopes to create tracers has become a gold-standard method to study the metabolism of lipids and lipoproteins in humans. There are a range of techniques which use stable isotopes to measure fatty acid flux and oxidation, hepatic fatty synthesis, cholesterol absorption and synthesis and lipoprotein metabolism in humans. Stable isotope tracers are safe to use, en...

Patterns of late Palaeogene mammalian evolution appear to be very different between Eurasia and North America. Around the Eocene-Oligocene (EO) transition global temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere plummet: following this, European mammal faunas undergo a profound extinction event (the Grande Coupure), while in North America they appear to pass through this temperature event unscathed. Here...

Deep basins of the North Atlantic were occupied by a cold 13 C-depleted (nutrient-rich) water mass during glaciations, and a warmer 13C-enriched (nutrient-poor) water mass (modern NADW) during interglaciations. This mode of deep-water variability is related directly to migration of the North Atlantic Polar Front. Down-core stable isotope records from the Atlantic and Antarctic suggest that 13C ...

This study tests the representativeness of groundwater recharge estimates through the chloride mass balance (CMB) method in a tropical environment. The representativeness of recharge estimates using this methodology is tested using evaporation estimates from isotope data, the general spatial distribution of the potential field, and the topographical variations in the area. This study suggests t...