The last 3 million years at a snail's pace: a tiny trapdoor opens a new way to date the past

University of York ^ | August 4, 2011 | Unknown

[decimon]

Scientists at the University of York, using an 'amino acid time capsule', have led the largest ever programme to date the British Quaternary period, stretching back nearly three million years.

It is the first widespread application of refinements of the 40-year-old technique of amino acid geochronology. The refined method, developed at York’s BioArCh laboratories, measures the breakdown of a closed system of protein in fossil snail shells, and provides a method of dating archaeological and geological sites.

Britain has an unparalleled studied record of fossil-rich terrestrial sediments from the Quaternary, a period that includes relatively long glacial episodes – known as the Ice Age – interspersed with shorter ‘interglacial’ periods where temperatures may have exceeded present day values.

However, too often the interglacial deposits have proved difficult to link to global climatic signals because they are just small isolated exposures, often revealed by quarrying.

[decimon]

England in a snail shell ping.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks decimon. Beware, this looks like climate change "research" to me. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[ApplegateRanch]

the Quaternary, a period that includes relatively long glacial episodes – known as the Ice Age – interspersed with shorter ‘interglacial’ periods where temperatures may have exceeded present day values.

HERETICS!

Prepareth thou stakes and faggots, that they may be burnt with cleansing fire to purify them, and removeth this rank heresy from amongst the simple folk, who may becometh ensnarled in its pernicious tentacles!

[patton]

“Prepareth thou stakes and faggots, that they may be burnt with cleansing fire to purify them, ...”

LOLOLOL - I love a good pun.

[ForGod'sSake]

Heh. Verily, thou speakest to the perfidy of the offending infidels. Their betrayal wilt feel the wrath of the high priests of the church scientific dogmatists.

[aruanan]

Britain has an unparalleled studied record of fossil-rich terrestrial sediments from the Quaternary, a period that includes relatively long glacial episodes – known as the Ice Age – interspersed with shorter ‘interglacial’ periods where temperatures may have exceeded present day values.

I wish the science writers would get it right. An ice age consists of longer periods of glaciation interspersed with shorter periods of warmth. The individual periods of glaciation are not ice ages, though their current length of about 100,000 years is pretty much an age compared to that of the interglacials.* It probably should have been written this way:

Britain has an unparalleled studied record of fossil-rich terrestrial sediments from the Quaternary Ice Age, a period that includes relatively long glacial episodes interspersed with shorter ‘interglacial’ periods where temperatures may have exceeded present day values.

*"Glaciation took place repeatedly during the Quaternary Ice Age – a term coined by Schimper in 1839 that began with the start of the Quaternary about 2.58 Mya and continues to the present-day."

[BroJoeK]

from the article: "The refined method, developed at York’s BioArCh laboratories, measures the breakdown of a closed system of protein in fossil snail shells, and provides a method of dating archaeological and geological sites."

Did those folks out there trying to "prove" the earth is only 10,000 years old, and all science to the contrary is just bogus, did they finally give up on Free Republic?