Oxygen isotopes in mammal bone phosphate: A new tool for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological research?

Abstract Oxygen isotope analyses of water in blood of humans and domestic pigs indicate that the oxygen isotope fractionation effects between ingested water and body water are the same in all specimens of the same species. The δ 18 O of body water has been shown to vary linearly with the mean δ 18 O of local meteoric water. This conclusion also holds for the bone phosphate. Thus, δ 18 O ( PO 3− 4 ) values of unaltered fossil bones from humans and domestic pigs can be used to reconstruct the δ 18 O values of local meteoric waters during the life-times of the mammals. Such data can be used for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological studies both on land and at sea.