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                            Library & Multimedia
 Reconstruction of Travel History Using Coupled delta18O and 87Sr/86Sr Measurements of Hair
NCJ Number
              252039
Journal

*Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry* Volume: 31 Issue: 6 Dated: March 2017 Pages: 583-589
Author(s)
          Thuan H. Chau;
                        Brett J. Tipple;
                        Lihai  Hu;
                        Diego P. Fernandez;
                        Thure E. Cerling;
                        James R. Ehleringer;
                        Lesley A. Chesson
Date Published

March 2017
Length
              7 pages
Annotation
              This study tested the hypothesis that oxygen isotope ratios (delta18O values) of hair largely reflect features of regional hydrology, and strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) are thought to reflect bedrock geology; and a combination of both isotope signatures may provide greater capacity for determining provenance and reconstructing travel history of an organism.
Abstract
              This study compared the O-Sr isotope profiles of hair from domestic horses with known residency histories. Tail hairs were collected from a pair of horses pastured together for a period of 16 months, one of which lived in a different location for the 8 months prior. Hair samples were washed with solvents to remove external contaminants prior to sequential sampling for delta18O and 87Sr/86Sr analysis via TC/EA-IRMS and MC-ICP-MS, respectively. Hair digests were concentrated and analyzed employing low-flow natural aspiration to measure 87Sr/86Sr. The study found that tail hair from the control and transported horses had mean δ18O values of 11.25 +/- 1.62 ‰ and 10.96 +/- 1.53 ‰, and mean 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7101 +/- 0.0006 and 0.7109 +/- 0.0020, respectively. The delta18O and 87Sr/86Sr profiles for the control and transported horses were indistinguishable when they were pastured together. The 87Sr/86Sr profiles were significantly different during the period that the horses were living apart, and the delta18O values were indistinguishable during that period. By comparing the O-Sr isotope profiles of a control and transported horse, researchers investigated isotopic signal(s) potentially useful for reconstructing travel histories via high-resolution sequential sampling along single strands of tail hair. Improved analytical capabilities allowed for extremely low Sr abundance samples to be analyzed for 87Sr/86Sr and proved capable of resolving a horse's movement between distinct regions. (Publisher abstract modified)
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2013-DN-BX-K009


  
  
        
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        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Research (Applied/Empirical)
                                Report (Study/Research)
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                                Program/Project Description


  
  
        
  Award
        Isotope Analyses of Hair as a Trace Evidence Tool to Reconstruct Human Movements: Establishing the Effects of the "Human Ecosystem" On Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Ratios
    
  
  
Date Published: March 1, 2017
    
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