Oxygen isotope analysis is an analytical method that quantifies the relative abundances of oxygen isotopes, typically ¹⁸O/¹⁶O (reported as δ¹⁸O), in materials such as carbonates, silicates, phosphates, water, or organic matter to infer formation conditions and processes. Samples are prepared by chemical conversion (e.g., acid digestion of carbonates, fluorination of silicates, equilibration of water) to produce gas (CO₂, O₂) analyzed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry or laser-based spectrometers. The measured isotopic ratios, calibrated against international standards, are used to reconstruct paleotemperatures, hydrological cycles, diagenetic histories, and other physico-chemical parameters governed by equilibrium or kinetic isotope fractionation.
A map showing the distribution of isotopes in Amazonian tree wood can help identify illegally harvested timber. By analyzing the ratio of different isotopes of elements such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and strontium, researchers ...
Environment
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A Florida State University paleoclimatologist led the creation of a global database hosting thousands of seawater isotope measurements collected over almost 50 years that will aid scientists in generating more accurate climate ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 14, 2026
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How do some of geology's most mysterious iron ore deposits form? This question has preoccupied the geosciences for more than a century. An international research team led by Dr. Stefan Peters from the Leibniz Institute for ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 8, 2026
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Oxygen isotopes data enable researchers to look far back into the geologic past and reconstruct the climate of the past. In doing so, they consider several factors such as ocean temperature and ice volume in polar regions. ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2026
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A team of researchers at The University of New Mexico has uncovered how a peculiar, prehistoric plant might unlock new ways to reconstruct Earth's ancient climate.
Earth Sciences
Oct 29, 2025
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Because oxygen-bearing sulfate minerals trap and preserve signals from Earth's atmosphere, scientists closely study how they form. Sulfates are stable over billions of years, so their oxygen isotopes are seen as a time capsule, ...
Astrobiology
Oct 23, 2025
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The explosion of animal life in Earth's oceans half a billion years ago during and after the Cambrian Period is commonly attributed to a substantial and sustained rise of free oxygen (O2) in seawater. Some researchers even ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 4, 2025
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Astronomers at Leiden University have detected rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen in our neighboring stars for the first time, providing a new path toward better understanding the chemical evolution of the cosmos. The results ...
Astronomy
Aug 26, 2025
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A previously unexploited source of information is now throwing new light on Earth's climate during the age of dinosaurs. Fossilized dinosaur teeth show that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the Mesozoic ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 5, 2025
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A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences solves a long-standing climate mystery: Why don't the records of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) in cave formations like stalagmites—known as speleothems—from ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 14, 2025
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