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Science 25 March 1977:
Vol. 195. no. 4284, pp. 1333 - 1335
DOI: 10.1126/science.195.4284.1333
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Articles

Isoleucine Epimerization for Dating Marine Sediments: Importance of Analyzing Monospecific Foraminiferal Samples

KENNETH KING JR. 1 and COLLEEN NEVILLE 1

1 Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964

The rate of isoleucine epimerization in fossil planktonic foraminifera is strongly species-dependent. Alloisoleucine/isoleucine ratios of two species of the same age can vary by more than a factor of 2. This finding, in combination with the known temporal and spatial variability of foraminiferal assemblages, demonstrates the critical importance of basing geochronological studies of marine sediments on monospecific samples. One rapidly epimerizing species generates a calibration curve of potentially high precision for dating sediments between the ages of about 50,000 to 400,000 years.

Submitted on September 28, 1976
Revised on November 30, 1976


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Isoleucine Epimerization in Peptides and Proteins: Kinetic Factors and Application to Fossil Proteins.
N. Kriausakul, N. KRIAUSAKUL, and R. M. MITTERER (1978)
Science 201, 1011-1014
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