Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
bones, however, strontium undergoes continuous biological processing and,
as a consequence, the relative amounts of strontium isotopes represent the
average composition over, say, the last 10 years of an animal's life. Deter-
mining the average amounts of the isotopes of strontium is best done by ana-
lyzing bone fragments from control groups, such as animals that have the
same feeding habits as the animal being studied. Analyses of the isotopes of
strontium are now widely used for studying ancient diets, the reconstruc-
tion of habitats, and the investigation of human migrations (Montgomery
et al. 2003; Price et al. 2002).
