Land-sea correlations in the Pleistocene based on isoleucine epimerization in non-marine molluscs

THE correlation between the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the oceans and continental stratigraphic records is one of the main challenges for Quaternary research. Most continental classifications, however, are based on techniques and hypotheses that predate recent advances. Nevertheless, the deep-se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1989-07, Vol.340 (6228), p.49-51
Main Authors: Bowen, D. Q, Hughes, S, Sykes, G. A, Miller, G. H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic life
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Freshwater
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Marine and continental quaternary
Marine biology
Mollusks
multidisciplinary
Oceanography
Oceans
Oxygen
Oxygen isotopes
Pleistocene
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Shellfish
Stratigraphy
Surficial geology
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Summary:THE correlation between the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the oceans and continental stratigraphic records is one of the main challenges for Quaternary research. Most continental classifications, however, are based on techniques and hypotheses that predate recent advances. Nevertheless, the deep-sea oxygen isotope global stratigraphic framework has been extended to the continents by means of some long sequences 1 ; but these are exceptional and regional geology is unsatisfactorily classified for correlation with the oxygen isotope signal. Because successive geological events produced similar evidence ( homotaxis ), geochronometric dating is essential for correlation, but available methods are highly site-, regional- or sample-specific. Fortunately non-marine molluscs are ubiquitous in time and space, and here we use the time-dependent epimerization of L-isoleucine in these fossils to subdivide the Pleistocene of the British Isles, and to identify more events than recognized by the existing classification 2 . By calibrating the relative aminostratigraphic scale with independent dating methods we have set up a geochronology which is the basis for land—sea correlations back to oxygen isotope stage 15.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/340049a0