Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:56:56.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Aspartic Acid Racemization in Late Wisconsin Lake Ontario Sediments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Roy Allen Schroeder
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 USA
Jeffrey L. Bada
Affiliation:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Institute of Marine Resources, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 USA

Abstract

We have determined aspartic acid racemization and [14C] ages in sediment from a 17-m piston core recovered from Lake Ontario. This core represents a depositional record extending back into the Late Wisconsin. Total organic radiocarbon ages of the glaciolacustrine lower section of the core are older than the true depositional age. Hence we suggest that these ages do not represent time elapsed since deposition but rather may be up to several thousand years too old due to mixing with 14C-depleted organic matter and possibly also D-amino acids contained by the glacier and deposited as the glacier receded. Further studies are suggested that might test this hypothesis as well as establish the general applicability of racemization dating to clay sediments.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aizenshtat, Z., Baedecker, M.J., Kaplan, I.R., 1973. Distribution and diagenesis of organic compounds in JOIDES sediment from Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 37, 1881 1898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bada, J.L., 1971. Kinetics of the nonbiological decomposition and racemization of amino acids in natural waters. Gould, R.F., Nonequilibrium Systems in Natural Water Chemistry. Advances in Chemistry Series. Vol. 106, American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C, 309 331 Series Ed..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bada, J.L., 1972. Kinetics of racemization of amino-acid as a function of pH. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 95, 1371 1373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bada, J.L., Protsch, R., 1973. Racemization reaction of aspartic acid and its use in dating fossil bones. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 70, 1331 1334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bada, J.L., Schroeder, R.A., 1972. Racemization of isoleucine in calcareous marine sediments: Kinetics and mechanism. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 15, 1 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bada, J.L., Schroeder, R.A., 1975. Amino acid racemization reactions and their geochemical implications. Naturwissenschaften. 62, 71 79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bada, J.L., Luyendyk, B.P., Maynard, J.B., 1970. Marine sediments: Dating by the racemization of amino acids. Science. 170, 730 732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bada, J.L., Kvenvolden, K.A., Peterson, E., 1973. Racemization of amino acids in bones. Nature (London). 245, 308 310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, J.B., Dutka, B.J., 1972. Microbial examination of Lake Ontario sediments. I. Distributions of aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs in several Lake Ontario sediments. Proceedings of the 15th Conference, Great Lakes Research. 1 8.Google Scholar
Bryson, R.A., Wendland, W.M., Ives, J.D., Andrews, J.T., 1969. Radiocarbon isochrones on the disintegration of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Arctic and Alpine Research. 1, 1 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, C-N., Ponnamperuma, C., 1974. Extraction of amino acids from soils and sediments with superheated water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 38, 1843 1848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dungworth, G., 1976. Optical configuration and the racemization of amino acids in sediments and in fossils—A review. Chemical Geology. 135 153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fritz, P., Anderson, T.W., Lewis, C.F.M., 1975. Late-Quaternary climatic trends and history of Lake Erie from stable isotope studies. Science. 190, 267 269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldring, W., 1922. The Champlain Sea: Evidence of its decreasing salinity southward as shown by the character of the fauna. New York State Museum Bulletin. 239–240, 153 194.Google Scholar
Hamilton, P.B., 1963. Ion exchange chromatography of amino acids. Analytical Chemistry. 35, 2055 2064.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, P.E., 1972. Amino acid geochemistry of a sediment core from the Cariaco Trench. Carnegie Institute of Washington Yearbook. 71, 592 596.Google Scholar
Harlow, G.L., 1968. The task which lies ahead in the Lake Erie basin. Bloodgood, D.F., Proceedings of the 23rd Industrial Waste Conference (Purdue University). Purdue University Engineering Extension Series, No. 132. Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, 850 856.Google Scholar
Karrow, P.F., Anderson, T.W., 1975. Palynological study of lake sediment profiles from southwestern New Brunswick: Discussion. Canadian Journal of Earth Science. 12, 1808 1812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karrow, P.F., Clark, J.R., Terasmae, J., 1961. The age of Lake Iroquois and Lake Ontario. Journal of Geology. 69, 659 667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karrow, P.F., Anderson, T.W., Clarke, A.H., Delorme, L.D., Sreenivasa, M.R., 1975. Stratigraphy, paleontology, and age of Lake Algonquin sediments in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Quaternary Research. 5, 49 87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemp, A.L.W., 1969. Organic matter in the sediments of Lakes Ontario and Erie. Proceedings of the 12th Conference, Great Lakes Research. 237 249.Google Scholar
Kemp, A.L.W., 1971. Organic carbon and nitrogen in the surface sediments of Lake Ontario, Erie and Huron. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 41, 537 548.Google Scholar
Kemp, A.L.W., Mudrochova, A., 1972. Distribution and forms of nitrogen in a Lake Ontario sediment core. Limnology and Oceanography. 16, 855 867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemp, A.L.W., Mudrochova, A., 1973. The distribution and nature of amino acids and other nitrogen-containing compounds in Lake Ontario surface sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 37, 2191 2206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kvenvolden, K.A., Peterson, E., Brown, F.S., 1970. Racemization of amino acids in sediments from Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Science. 169, 1079 1082.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, C.F.M., McNeely, R.N., 1967. Survey of Lake Ontario bottom sediments. Proceedings of the 10th Conference, Great Lakes Research. 133 142.Google Scholar
Mangerud, J., Gulliksen, S., 1975. Apparent radiocarbon ages of Recent marine shells from Norway, Spitsbergen, and Arctic Canada. Quaternary Research. 5, 263 273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitterer, R.M., 1972. Biogeochemistry of aragonite mud and oolites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 36, 1407 1422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitterer, R.M., 1971. Calcified proteins in the sedimentary environment. Von Gartner, H.R., Wehner, H., Advances in Organic Geochemistry. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 441 451.Google Scholar
Mott, R.J., 1968. A radiocarbon-dated marine algal bed of the Champlain Sea episode near Ottawa, Ontario. Canada Journal of Earth Science. 5, 319 324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petit, M.G., 1974. The racemization rate constant for protein-bound aspartic acid in woodrat middens. Quaternary Research. 4, 340 345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prest, 104.K., 1969. Retreat of Wisconsin and recent ice in North America. Geological Survey of Canada. Map 1257A.Google Scholar
Reeck, G.R., Fisher, L., 1973. A statistical analysis of the amino acid compositions of proteins. International Journal of Peptide and Protein Research. 5, 109 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, A.B., 1974. Evolution and the distribution of glutaminyl and asparaginyl residues in proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA. 71, 885 888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodger, G.K., Anderson, D.105., 1963. Thermal structures of Lake Ontario. Proceedings of the 6th Conference, Great Lakes Research. 59 69.Google Scholar
Schroeder, R.A., 1974. Kinetics, Mechanism and Geochemical Applications of Amino Acid Racemization in Various Fossils. Ph.D Dissertation. University of California, San Diego. Google Scholar
Schroeder, R.A., Bada, J.L., 1976. A review of the geochemical applications of the amino acid racemization reaction. Earth-Science Reviews. 12, 347 391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sowden, F.J., 1969. Effect of hydrolysis time and iron and aluminum removal on the determination of amino compounds in soil. Soil Science. 107, 364 371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spackman, D.H., Stein, W.H., Moore, S., 1958. Automatic recording apparatus for use in the chromatography of amino acids. Analytical Chemistry. 30, 1190 1206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., 1975. Climate versus changes in 13C content of the organic component of lake sediments during the late Quaternary. Quaternary Research. 5, 251 262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, F.M., 1961. Limnology and amino-acid content of some lake deposits in Minnesota, Montana, Nevada and Louisiana. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 72, 519 545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, R.L., Kemp, A.L.W., Lewis, C.F.M., 1972. Distribution, composition and characteristics of the surficial sediments of Lake Ontario. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 42, 66 84.Google Scholar
Vallentyne, J.R., 1964. Biogeochemistry of organic matter. II. Thermal reaction kinetics and transformation products of amino compounds. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 28, 157 188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, F.J.E., 1967. Published references in Champlain Sea faunas 1837–1966 and list of fossils. Geological Survey of Canada. Paper 67-16.Google Scholar
Wall, J.S., 1953. Simultaneous separation of purines, pyrimidines, amino acids, and other nitrogenous compounds. Analytical Chemistry. 25, 950 953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wehmiller, J.F., Hare, P.E., 1972. Amino Acid content of some samples from the Deep Sea Drilling Program. Hays, J.D., Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. Vol. 9, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, 903 905.Google Scholar