The plant-based nitrogen eaten by ostriches and stored in their eggshells was measured by researchers 20,000 years later.
isotopes
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.
Posted inNews
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.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plants Leave Chemical Fingerprints on an Ozone-Depleting Gas
A first-of-its-kind study suggests that isotope analysis could be used to pinpoint sources and sinks of atmospheric methyl chloride.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Using Cave Formations to Investigate Ancient Wildfires
From sediment cores to speleothems, environmental archives are helping us to understand the history of wildfires.