Ancient Bison Teeth Provide Window On Past Great Plains Climate, Vegetation

Newswise ^ | 8-7-2006

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[Coyoteman]

Good post.

Stable isotopes (C13, N15, etc.) can lead to all sorts of good information.

[blam]

"Good post."

Thanks. I thought this would be one that no-one read, lol.

[kinoxi]

There was an earlier post that questioned the accuracy of our half-life dating system. It was cooled to near absolute zero and likely false but should be considered. no link. my apologies.

[cookcounty]

Doesn't it just kill you when the global warming nuts bellyache about "all those cattle " in the West releasing horrific amounts of methane into the environmennt????

These bozos never stop to ask how much methane was released by 40 million LARGE sized bison tooting around the range.

[Coyoteman]

"Good post."

Thanks. I thought this would be one that no-one read, lol.

Stable isotopes are good for establishing prehistoric diets.

On the west coast, we know of one early individual who had a high N15 to C13 ratio, suggesting an amazing 92.5% marine diet; and not just marine, but sea mammals!

In late prehistoric times the marine portion of the diet in this same area had dropped to about 10%.

Science has given us some wonderful tools for studying the past.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I'm a Buffalo lover.

We had some on the college campus.

[NewRomeTacitus]

No read? Some of us like FR for the articles not found without specific searching. This one made me feel better about flossing only once weekly while using flouride swishing daily (no further cavities in 20 years and all teeth still in place). So I glow in the dark and that prehensile tail itches while emerging...

[Coyoteman]

There was an earlier post that questioned the accuracy of our half-life dating system. It was cooled to near absolute zero and likely false but should be considered. no link. my apologies.

Stable isotopes (C13, N15), as discussed in the article, are entirely different from radioactive isotopes (C14, etc.).

The study that used extreme cooling dealt with alpha decay, not beta or gamma decay. Also, cooling of that magnitude is not likely to occur naturally on earth.

Given this, I don't think this study has any implications for radiometric dating.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Stable isotopes are good for establishing prehistoric diets.

I am uneducated in this knowlege....how is it possible ?

[blam]

"On the west coast, we know of one early individual who had a high N15 to C13 ratio, suggesting an amazing 92.5% marine diet; and not just marine, but sea mammals!"

"In late prehistoric times the marine portion of the diet in this same area had dropped to about 10%."

Any idea why?

[kinoxi]

The implications of the earlier article remain. Would you like to explain the decay mechanism to me?

[stormer]

Interesting research. Although I don't know Hoppe, I would bet I know a few folks that do. I'll see if I can find out some more info.

[Coyoteman]

Stable isotopes are good for establishing prehistoric diets.

I am uneducated in this knowlege....how is it possible ?

Quick answer: Stable isotopes can be determined for a variety of plant and animal foods. The raw numbers and ratios for C13 and N15 differ significantly among the various foods.

People who rely heavily on particular foods tend toward those stable isotope readings and ratios.

We can determine the readings from various analyses, and make good estimates of prehistoric diets.

[Coyoteman]

"On the west coast, we know of one early individual who had a high N15 to C13 ratio, suggesting an amazing 92.5% marine diet; and not just marine, but sea mammals!"

"In late prehistoric times the marine portion of the diet in this same area had dropped to about 10%."

Any idea why?

Quick answer: In that area, as populations increased and subsequently changed, partially through migration, the diet had to expand to include large amounts of terrestrial foods. The earliest adaptations to marine resources gave way to largely terrestrial diets. It took thousands of years.

[Coyoteman]

The implications of the earlier article remain. Would you like to explain the decay mechanism to me?

Quick answer: I don't have time tonight. You can google up some good information though.

The alpha decay discussed in the article is significantly different than the beta and gamma decays. Radiocarbon dating, for example, uses beta decay.

In any case, it looks like the accelerated alpha decay requires conditions never present on earth prior to modern technology, so I see no implications for radiometric dating.

[kinoxi]

The emission is not the decay mechanism.

[Coyoteman]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/01/faster_decay/

[kinoxi]

One as knowledgeable as yourself would surely know that even protons decay under many current theories. The reality is that no one has been measuring for long enough. Read up on Pioneer spacecraft (anomalies) and tell me what you think. No lengthy measurement by human theory has yet to pan out.