Abstract
The oxygen isotopic composition of phosphate (δ 18Op) and structural carbonate (δ 18Oc) of hydroxylapatite was determined in 31 bone and tooth samples of modern mammals from different countries. These two variables are highly correlate (r 2 = 0.98) and the calculated best fit of linear regression is very similar to the equation calculated from the phosphate and carbonate palaeotemperature equations [1,2]. According to previous measurements [3–6] on fossils of different ages from different areas it seems quite improbable to find isotopically altered skeletal remains showing a good correlation between δ 18Op and δ 18Oc, as is the case with modern samples. It therefore seems possible, at least in some cases, to use these measurements for monitoring fossil bone and tooth diagenetic alteration. When a set of points lie on the equilibrium line or close to it, the δ 18O values could be considered close to the original values. In contrast, when the points lie to the left or to the right of this line this probably means that the values are diagenetically modified, due to interaction with meteoric water or 18O-enriched water, respectively.
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