A new dual isotope tracer technique is used to assess the role of a number of poorly understood nutrient supply mechanisms fueling biological productivity in the ocean.
isotopes
Posted inNews
Looking for Climate Clues in China’s Great Wall
Looking for Climate Clues in China’s Great Wall
In northwestern China, desert conditions have preserved the farthest reaches of the Great Wall. Scientists are now exploring 2,000-year-old building materials for signs of the region’s past climate.
Posted inNews
Ostrich Eggshells Trace Namaqualand’s Ancient Rain
The plant-based nitrogen eaten by ostriches and stored in their eggshells was measured by researchers 20,000 years later.
Posted inNews
Mammal Droppings Preserve Human and Climate History on the Tibetan Plateau
Geochemical signatures in sediment, which includes organic molecules from human and animal poop, help scientists track the rise and fall of the Tibetan Empire.
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Paleostorm Chasers Test a New Detection Tool
A method typically used to date sediments shows promise for documenting tropical storms through history—information needed for future projections of storm activity.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Barnacles Help Reconstruct Drift Path of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370
Careful calibration of isotopes in a barnacle shell growing on ocean debris – in this case an airplane part – informs a new forensic method to identify its most probable drift path.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Certaines plantes laissent une empreinte digitale chimique sur un gaz qui appauvrit la couche d’ozone
Une nouvelle étude, la première dans son genre, suggère qu’il serait possible de recourir à une analyse isotopique pour localiser les sources et les puits de chlorométhane dans l’atmosphère.
Posted inNews
Evidence of Earth’s Oldest Glaciers Found in South Africa
The ancient glaciers hint at an Archaean Earth that may have looked similar in some ways to our own time.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Short-Lived Solutions for Tall Trees in Chile’s Megadrought
Some southern beeches in the Andes have plumbed deeper for moisture as the surface has dried up. But doing so may deplete resources and undermine the trees’ future health.