Funds will be used for support of a Chapman Conference on Studying the Earth's Climate Using Continental Isotopic Indicators. As most of our knowledge concerning paleoclimates has been derived from the marine record, there is a paucity of data on variations in continental temperatures and oxygen isotopic composition of meteoric fluids. Processes that record the H and O isotopic composition of meteoric waters and the temperature of formation include, (i) alteration of metastable marine carbonates to limestones, (ii) precipitation in lakes (carbonates, clays and phosphorites), (iii) formation of cave deposits, and (iv) formation of organic material. This workshop will present the current state of knowledge in areas relevant to this concept including; (i) current variations in the H and O isotopic compositions of the global meteoric cycle and their relationship to temperature; (ii) the distribution of these deposits through time; (iii) how these deposits reflect the ambient conditions in the modern environment; (iv) problems of interpretation, stratigraphy; and (v) usefulness of such information in constraining global climate models.
