Oxygen isotope ratio

An oxygen isotope ratio compares the abundances of oxygen isotopes in a material. Differences in these ratios can record processes such as evaporation, precipitation, and biological growth.

Isotope fractionation: A process that changes isotope proportions because isotopes behave differently during physical, chemical, or biological transformations. It produces the ratio shifts used to infer environmental conditions.
Paleoclimatology: The study of past climates using evidence preserved in natural archives. Oxygen isotope records are among its widely used climate proxies.
Oxygen: A chemical element with atomic number 8, occurring naturally as several isotopes. Its naturally occurring isotopes form the numerator and denominator of the ratio.
Hydrogen isotope ratio: A comparison of hydrogen isotope abundances in a material, often used to study water sources and climate. It traces water-cycle processes alongside oxygen ratios, but measures a different element.
Stable isotope: An isotope that does not undergo radioactive decay. Oxygen isotope ratios commonly compare stable isotopes rather than radioactive ones.
Oxygen isotope stage: A numbered interval in a marine sediment climate chronology defined from oxygen isotope records. These stages organize recurring glacial and interglacial patterns in marine records.
Isotope: One of several forms of an element whose atoms have different numbers of neutrons. An oxygen isotope ratio compares the abundances of two such forms.
Carbon isotope ratio: A comparison of carbon isotope abundances, used to study carbon cycling, diet, and geological processes. It tracks carbon sources and biological pathways rather than oxygen-bearing water histories.
Delta notation: A notation expressing an isotope ratio's relative difference from an agreed reference standard, usually in parts per thousand. It reports oxygen isotope measurements in a comparable form.
Ice core: A cylinder of ice drilled from a glacier or ice sheet that preserves layered environmental evidence. Its oxygen isotope composition records changes in snowfall and past temperature.

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