Degradable tags for depth correlation mud logging

A method of using a degradable polymeric additive, comprising:

• introducing an amount of the degradable polymeric additive into a drilling fluid to form an altered drilling fluid;
• introducing the altered drilling fluid into a wellbore;
• recovering an associated wellbore cutting from a depleted drilling fluid;
• and
• detecting the presence of the degradable polymeric additive associated with the associated wellbore cutting,
• where the degradable polymeric additive comprises a tracer functional group that is bonded to a base polymeric component by a hydrolysable covalent bond, where the base polymeric component is a polysaccharide, and where the tracer functional group is selected from the group consisting of a halogen-containing functional group, a substituted heterocyclic aromatic group, or combinations thereof.