Rapid racemization of aspartic acid in mollusc shells and potential for dating over recent centuries

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 357; no. 6377; pp. 399 - 401
• Main Author: Goodfriend, Glenn A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 04.06.1992; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Acids; Carbon dating; Carbonates; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fluctuations; Geochronology; Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology; Marine and continental quaternary; Marine biology; Mollusca; Mollusks; Oceans; Radiocarbon dating; Shellfish; Shells; Surficial geology; Middle East; Asia; Madeira; West Indies; Israel; Jamaica; Atlantic Ocean Islands; mollusks; absolute age; upper Holocene; eolianite; racemization; shells
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/357399a0

DATING of deposits and materials less than 350 years old is hindered by the very poor time resolution of the radiocarbon method over this period1,2. Fluctuations in atmospheric 14C levels result in the existence of several possible calendric ages for any given radiocarbon age for terrestrial samples. In the marine record, these fluctuations are dampened. However, only a small change in marine radiocarbon ages occurs over this period (from AD 1700 to 1950, radiocarbon ages become only 100 yr younger2). Consequently, age resolution is poor. Furthermore, there is an uncertainty in the amount of the correction for the reservoir effect, the apparent radiocarbon age of modern marine carbon (typically ~400yr), which reflects the average residence time of carbon in the oceans. Amino-acid racemization/epimerization analysis has been used primarily for dating samples older than the limit of radiocarbon dating (40,000–50,000 yr BP)3,4. Here I show that aspartic acid (Asp) in mollusc shells has racemized particularly rapidly over the past few centuries. Analyses done on land snails from deposits in the Negev Desert, eolianites in Madeira, cave deposits in Jamaica and from museum collections indicate racemization rates of 2–5% per century. Asp racemization thus provides a means of dating recent faunal assemblages of molluscs and other biogenic carbonates, as well as recent terrestrial, fluvial and marine sedimentary sequences that contain molluscs.