How to use and cite this resource.
Navigating the map
Pan: left-click on the map and drag.
Zoom: use the zoom control on the top-left of the map, use the mouse wheel,
or hold down the Shift key and drag a rectangle
Interrogate isotope data
On the 'Sample Query' tab enter the isotope data you want to test in the
query boxes and press 'Run Query'. The resulting map will show, in orange,
those areas that have data range that include the value/s entered. If you
get no match please check that the data you entered is within the data
ranges incorporated in the map and given in grey in the query boxes.
Locate a site
– use search facility on top left corner.
Printable map of results
To create a printable map, run your query and navigate to your area of
interest. Click on the 'Print' button which will generate a link to your
printable map.
View isotope data
Click on the 'Basemaps' tab and select which of the isotope layers to view.
The 'Legend' button will show a legend for the currently visible layers.
How to cite this site.
J.A. Evans, K. Mee, C.A. Chenery, and A.P. Marchant, (2022): Biosphere
Isotope Domains GB (V2): Interactive Website. British Geological Survey.
(Interactive Resource). https://doi.org/10.5285/2ce7fc22-1b6e-4979-968f-42058c0120fb
The strontium isotope biosphere layer.
The strontium layer is based predominantly on plant data (n= 1385)
allocated to domains defined largely by bedrock areas. The domain data
ranges can be set at either the central 50% (interquartile range, IQR) of
the data or the wider 90% data range. The 50% data range is recommended for
approximate human enamel whereas the 90% data range is better suited for
plant and grazing animals’ studies.
The drinking water layer
The drinking water layer is based on the map of Darling et al (2003) and
the 1‰ contours are allocated a ± 0.5‰ uncertainty.
The human enamel oxygen isotope layer. –
oxygen isotope composition is species-dependent, so this layer is only
appropriate for the interpretation of human data.
This layer is based on human enamel samples that are deemed to be of local
origin through either archaeological or geochemical constraints. The data
are allocated geographically into two zones using the -7‰ to-8‰ drinking
water contour as a boundary. The mean and 1SD of the data are used to
define the domains. The data are presented in three forms (phosphate oxygen
or carbonate oxygen corrected to either VSMOW or VPDB).
The sulfur isotope layer.
This is based on plant sulfur isotope analysis (n=548). The domains are
defined by Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) using natural breaks in the data.
The data ranges for the domains are given in the associated legend.
The lead isotope layer.
The use of this as a geographic provenance tool is only advisable for
populations that are not affected by anthropogenic contamination i.e.
(pre-metal using communities or Pb mg/Kg < 0.5 in enamel).
This layer is based on Pb isotope analysis of predominantly galena but also
includes some feldspar and rock analyses (n=633). The domains are produced
by Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) using natural breaks in the data on the 206Pb/204Pb ratio.
Further Information.
See
User Guide
for data sources, references and further information on the
site’s construction and use.
Contact details
For more information or to provide feedback on this map viewer, contact us
here
