Begin by reading the short document named “Isotopes”. This will provide you with some background information necessary to complete the questions.
1. Next, look at the two tables contained in the document named PNAS (this is the name of the journal where I found this information). For this assignment, concentrate only on the Mean 13C data for the three types of food listed in TABLE 1. Using the data from TABLE 3 for the 13C content of animal feeds, can you provide a short explanation of the results shown in TABLE 1?
2. Next, look at the two tables contained in the document named JNUTR. In TABLE 2 again concentrate on the 13C values in this Eskimo population. As you look at the different age cohorts of the population, what do you notice about the source of total energy (the right hand two columns of the table)? Using the information in TABLE 1 for 13C, can you offer an explanation for the differences between the age groups in the 13C content of their red blood cells?