Stable isotope ratios of tap water in the contiguous United States

Bowen, Gabriel J.; Ehleringer, James R.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Stange, Erik; Cerling, Thure E.

doi:10.1029/2006wr005186

Cited by 233 publications

(265 citation statements)

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“…Geographic maps were produced by using the geographic information system program ArcGIS 9 (ESRI), which incorporated as a driver a spatially explicit map of the isotope ratios of tap water for the coterminous United States (11). Calculation capacities within ArcGIS were then used to relate hair and tap-water observations from this study to the predicted distributions of the hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of hair across the United States.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair are related to geography

Ehleringer

Bowen

Chesson

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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335

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We develop and test a model to predict the geographic region-oforigin of humans based on the stable isotope composition of their scalp hair. This model incorporates exchangeable and nonexchangeable hydrogen and oxygen atoms in amino acids to predict the ␦ 2 H and ␦ 18 O values of scalp hair (primarily keratin). We evaluated model predictions with stable isotope analyses of human hair from 65 cities across the United States. The model, which predicts hair isotopic composition as a function of drinking water, bulk diet, and dietary protein isotope ratios, explains >85% of the observed variation and reproduces the observed slopes relating the isotopic composition of hair samples to that of local drinking water. Based on the geographical distributions of the isotope ratios of tap waters and the assumption of a ''continental supermarket'' dietary input, we constructed maps of the expected average H and O isotope ratios in human hair across the contiguous 48 states. Applications of this model and these observations are extensive and include detection of dietary information, reconstruction of historic movements of individuals, and provision of regionof-origin information for unidentified human remains. stable isotopes ͉ water ͉ anthropology ͉ forensics ͉ meteoric water T he carbon (␦ 13 C), nitrogen (␦ 15 N), and sulfur (␦ 34 S) isotope ratios of humans, other animals, and microbes are strongly correlated with the isotope ratios of their dietary inputs (1-5). The adage ''You are what you eat'' reflects the observation that there are limited differences (Յ1‰) between heterotrophic organisms and their diet in either the ␦ 13 C or ␦ 34 S values (6-8). These small isotopic differences arise because of fractionation events during metabolism; they also reflect that diet-derived carbon and sulfur are the only input sources into most heterotrophs. Although there are larger ''spacing'' differences in ␦ 15 N values (Ϸ3‰) between an organism and its dietary source (9), the isotopic relationships between organism and diet persist. ␦ 13 C, ␦ 15 N, and ␦ 34 S values provide limited geographic-based information about the origins of a food source. Hydrogen (␦ 2 H) and oxygen (␦ 18 O) isotope ratios of organic matter are more useful, because ␦ 2 H and ␦ 18 O values of precipitation and tap waters vary along geographic gradients (10, 11).Although differences in the ␦ 2 H and ␦ 18 O values of scalp hair have been noted in humans (12), less is known about dietorganism patterns of ␦ 2 H and ␦ 18 O values. Four potential sources can be important: dietary organic molecules, dietary waters, drinking waters, and atmospheric diatomic oxygen. Hobson et al.(13) provided evidence that ␦ 2 H values of drinking water were incorporated into different proteinaceous tissues of quail, although no mechanistic basis was proposed for this relationship. The ␦ 2 H values of bird feathers and butterfly wings (both are largely keratin) and water in the region in which the tissue was produced are highly correlated (14, 15). showed that Ϸ70% of the oxygen and Ϸ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…␦ 13 C, ␦ 15 N, and ␦ 34 S values provide limited geographic-based information about the origins of a food source. Hydrogen (␦ 2 H) and oxygen (␦ 18 O) isotope ratios of organic matter are more useful, because ␦ 2 H and ␦ 18 O values of precipitation and tap waters vary along geographic gradients (10,11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair are related to geography

Ehleringer

Bowen

Chesson

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

335

440

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“…[The δD of water used in the cultures was not measured, but is estimated to be between −95‰ and −32‰ based on tap water data from Bowen et al (2007). Based on the calibration of Horibe and Craig (1995), 3 methane at D/H equilibrium with water at 30-37°C would be expected to have δD < −200‰, which is lower than the initial δD of methane in both sets of experiments.]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Field Site Descriptions and Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We note that the rumen fluid and gas samples were not taken from the same animal at the same time. However, the temporal variation of δD of tap water in the U.S. is expected to be small (generally <10‰ in any particular region over multiple seasons) (Bowen et al, 2007).Northern Cascadia Margin. Gas samples were collected from gas voids and hydrates in sediment cores drilled during IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) Expedition 311 (Riedel et al, 2006).…”

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The geochemistry of methane isotopologues

Wang¹

2017

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This thesis documents the origin, distribution, and fate of methane and several of its isotopic forms on Earth. Using observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches, I illustrate how the relative abundances of 12 CH 4 , 13 CH 4 , 12 CH 3 D, and 13 CH 3 D record the formation, transport, and breakdown of methane in selected settings.Chapter 2 reports precise determinations of 13 CH 3 D, a "clumped" isotopologue of methane, in samples collected from various settings representing many of the major sources and reservoirs of methane on Earth. The results show that the information encoded by the abundance of 13 CH 3 D enables differentiation of methane generated by microbial, thermogenic, and abiogenic processes. A strong correlation between clumped-and hydrogen-isotope signatures in microbial methane is identified and quantitatively linked to the availability of H 2 and the reversibility of microbially-mediated methanogenesis in the environment. Determination of 13 CH 3 D in combination with hydrogen-isotope ratios of methane and water provides a sensitive indicator of the extent of C-H bond equilibration, enables fingerprinting of methane-generating mechanisms, and in some cases, supplies direct constraints for locating the waters from which migrated gases were sourced. Chapter 3 applies this concept to constrain the origin of methane in hydrothermal fluids from sediment-poor vent fields hosted in mafic and ultramafic rocks on slow-and ultraslow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. The data support a hypogene model whereby methane forms abiotically within plutonic rocks of the oceanic crust at temperatures above ca. 300• C during respeciation of magmatic volatiles, and is subsequently extracted during active, convective hydrothermal circulation. Chapter 4 presents the results of culture experiments in which methane is oxidized in the presence of O 2 by the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus strain Bath. The results show that the clumped isotopologue abundances of partially-oxidized methane can be predicted from knowledge of 13 C/ 12 C and D/H isotope fractionation factors alone.: Shuhei Ono, Ph.D. Acknowledgments I fear that this section will not do justice to the people I have not the space to thank individually. Alas, here goes. To those whose names are not specifically listed here, thank you too. I wish first to thank Shuhei Ono. The work this thesis represents could not have happened without his bold vision and the license to explore and question that working in his lab afforded. His unbridled optimism, breadth of scientific curiosity, personal integrity, and accessibility to his personnel are traits I one day hope to emulate. I thank him for his nonjudgmental yet appropriately measured support of many of my ideas-even those that led nowhere-, for believing in me even when I found it difficult to do so myself, and for teaching me to change pump oil, build vacuum lines, and drink Icelandic vodka.I also wish to thank my thesis committee members Jeff Seewald, Roger Summons, and John Pohlman, for their in...

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Patterns of local and nonlocal water resource use across the western U.S. determined via stable isotope intercomparisons

Good

Kennedy

Stalker

et al. 2014

Water Resources Research

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In the western U.S., the mismatch between public water demands and natural water availability necessitates large interbasin transfers of water as well as groundwater mining of fossil aquifers. Here we identify probable situations of nonlocal water use in both space and time based on isotopic comparisons between tap waters and potential water resources within hydrologic basins. Our approach, which considers evaporative enrichment of heavy isotopes during storage and distribution, is used to determine the likelihood of local origin for 612 tap water samples collected from across the western U.S. We find that 64% of samples are isotopically distinct from precipitation falling within the local hydrologic basin, a proxy for groundwater with modern recharge, and 31% of samples are isotopically distinct from estimated surface water found within the local basin. Those samples inconsistent with local water sources, which we suggest are likely derived from water imported from other basins or extracted from fossil aquifers, are primarily clustered in southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, and central Arizona. Our isotope-based estimates of nonlocal water use are correlated with both hydrogeomorphic and socioeconomic properties of basins, suggesting that these factors exert a predictable influence on the likelihood that nonlocal waters are used to supply tap water. We use these basin properties to develop a regional model of nonlocal water resource use that predicts (r 2 5 0.64) isotopically inferred patterns and allows assessment of total interbasin transfer and/or fossil aquifer extraction volumes across the western U.S.

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Stable isotope ratios of tap water in the contiguous United States

Cited by 233 publications

References 30 publications

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair are related to geography

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair are related to geography

The geochemistry of methane isotopologues

Patterns of local and nonlocal water resource use across the western U.S. determined via stable isotope intercomparisons

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