Dear Colleagues,

With regards to meteoric water data:

There is a nice repository of stable isotope data for meteoric water
organized by the IAEA.  However, it is my understanding that a lot of labs
have collected meteoric water data that is not published.  Perhaps in each
case there isn't enough information, or by itself a limited data set does
not justify a paper.  I wonder if it wouldn't be possible for all of us to
consolidate our unpublished data in a single publication/repository?  I
realize there are a great deal of caveats.  Some data may not be as good as
others, you might say.  Collection procedures may differ, etc.
Nevertheless, I would guess that a large amount of 'private' data gathered
together would represent a very valuable resource.

If there is an interest in making this happen, I would propose the
following:  David Gutzler -- our climatologist -- and I would try to
organize the data using some data management program such as ArcInfo.
Dave, in his meteorological wizardry, would be able to add temperature and
precipitation data to the stable isotope data, so that some wonderful
correlations could be made.  All data would be available on the web in
Excel and/or arcinfo format, and we would publish an overview with all
contributors as authors.  Presumably the journal would keep an archive of
the data base.

Clearly we realize that putting everyone's data together limits the impact
of each of the contributors.  But we have little doubt that the compiled
data would be a great benefit that would compliment the very high quality
IAEA data.  Obviously, there are still some details to work out, but if the
response is positive, we will proceed.

Sincerely,

Zach
Zachary Sharp
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Northrop Hall
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
USA
FAX 505 277 8843
Phone 505 277 2000