Theoretically, such stable isotopes could include the radiogenic daughter products of radioactive decay, used in radiometric dating.
Other workers have used oxygen isotope ratios to reconstruct historical atmospheric temperatures, making them important tools for paleoclimatology.
The variations in oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios have applications in hydrology since most samples lie between two extremes, ocean water and Arctic/Antarctic snow.
This oxygen remains "fixed" in the calcium carbonate when the foraminifera dies, falls to the sea bed, and its shell becomes part of the sediment.
[18] Stable isotope ratio analysis also has applications in doping control, to distinguish between endogenous and exogenous (synthetic) sources of hormones.
[19][20] The accurate measurement of stable isotope ratios relies on proper procedures of analysis, sample preparation and storage.
In addition, an unusual signature of carbon-13 confirms the non-terrestrial origin for organic compounds found in carbonaceous chondrites, as in the Murchison meteorite.