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Amino Acid Geochemistry of Fossil Bones from the Rancho La Brea Asphalt Deposit, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark A. S. McMenamin ,
David J. Blunt ,
Keith A. Kvenvolden ,
Scott E. Miller ,
Leslie F. Marcus  and
Richard R. Pardi
Mark A. S. McMenamin
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106
David J. Blunt
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025
Keith A. Kvenvolden
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025
Scott E. Miller
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Laboratory, Queens College, Flushing, New York 11367 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Leslie F. Marcus
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Laboratory, Queens College, Flushing, New York 11367
Richard R. Pardi
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Laboratory, Queens College, Flushing, New York 11367
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Abstract

Low aspartic acid d:l ratios and modern collagenlike concentration values indicate that amino acids in bones from the Rancho La Brea asphalt deposit, Los Angeles, California are better preserved than amino acids in bones of equivalent age that have not been preserved in asphalt. Amino acids were recovered from 10 Rancho La Brea bone samples which range in age from less than 200 to greater than 36,000 yr. The calibrated rates of aspartic acid racemization range from 2.1 to 5.0 × 10−6yr−1. Although this wide range of rate constants decreases the level of confidence for age estimates, use of the larger rate constant of 5.0 × 10−6yr−1 provides minimum age estimates which fit the known stratigraphic and chronologic records of the Rancho La Brea deposits.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , September 1982 , pp. 174 - 183
Copyright
University of Washington

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