Amino acid dating
Amino acid dating is a
All biological tissues contain
Factors affecting racemization
The rate at which racemization proceeds depends on the type of amino acid and on the average temperature, humidity, acidity (pH), and other characteristics of the enclosing matrix. Also, D/L concentration thresholds appear to occur as sudden decreases in the rate of racemization. These effects restrict amino acid chronologies to materials with known environmental histories and/or relative intercomparisons with other dating methods.
Temperature and humidity histories of microenvironments are being produced at ever increasing rates as technologies advance and technologists accumulate data. These are important for amino acid dating because racemization occurs much faster in warm, wet conditions compared to cold, dry conditions. Temperate to cold region studies are much more common than tropical studies, and the steady cold of the ocean floor or the dry interior of bones and shells have contributed most to the accumulation of racemization dating data. As a rule of thumb, sites with a mean annual temperature of 30 °C have a maximum range of 200 ka and resolution of about 10 ka; sites at 10 °C have a maximum age range of ~2 Ma, and resolution generally about 20% of the age; at -10 °C the reaction has a maximum age of ~10 Ma, and a correspondingly coarser resolution.[6]
Strong acidity and mild to strong alkalinity induce greatly increased racemization rates. Generally, they are not assumed to have a great impact in the natural environment, though tephrochronological data may shed new light on this variable.
The enclosing matrix is probably the most difficult variable in amino acid dating. This includes racemization rate variation among species and organs, and is affected by the depth of decomposition, porosity, and
Amino acids used
Conventional racemization analysis tends to report a D-alloisoleucine / L-isoleucine (A/I or D/L ratio). This amino acid ratio has the advantages of being relatively easy to measure and being chronologically useful through the Quaternary.[7]
In recent years there have been successful efforts to examine intra-crystalline amino acids separately as they have been shown to improve results in some cases.[11]
Applications
Data from the geochronological analysis of amino acid racemization has been building for thirty-five years.
The slight reduction in this[clarification needed] repair capability during aging is important to studies of longevity and old age tissue breakdown disorders, and allows the determination of age of living animals.
Amino acid racemization also has a role in tissue and protein degradation studies, particularly useful in developing museum preservation methods. These have produced models of protein adhesive and other biopolymer deteriorations and the concurrent pore system development.
Forensic science can use this technique to estimate the age of a cadaver[22] or an objet d'art to determine authenticity.
Procedure
Amino acid racemization analysis consists of sample preparation, isolation of the amino acid wanted, and measure of its D:L ratio. Sample preparation entails the identification, raw extraction, and separation of proteins into their constituent amino acids, typically by grinding followed by acid hydrolysis. The amino acid derivative
References
- .
- .
- PMID 11539479.
- ^ .
- ^ Scarponi D, Kaufman D, Bright J, Kowalewski M (October 2008). "Quantifying time-averaging in 4th-order depositional sequences: radiocarbon-calibrated amino-acid racemization dating of Late Quaternary mollusk shells from Po Plain, Italy". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 40 (6): 502. Archived from the original on 2015-01-22.
The results provide a compelling case for applicability of amino acid racemization methods as a tool for evaluating changes in depositional dynamics, sedimentation rates, time-averaging, temporal resolution of the fossil record, and taphonomic overprints across sequence stratigraphic cycles.
- ^ a b "Method". Amino acid geochronology laboratory. Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016.
- ^ "NEaar: North East Amino Acid Racemization". University of York.
- .
- ^ Kaufman DS (2000). Perspectives in Amino Acid and Protein Geochemistry. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 145–160.
- ^ "Method". Amino Acid Geochronology Laboratory. Northern Arizona University.
- PMID 19684879.
- .
- .
- S2CID 131237779.
- doi:10.1130/G21607.1.
- S2CID 5839861.
- .
- .
- S2CID 4312380.
- .
- .
- S2CID 8664035.
External links
Active laboratories
- Northern Arizona University Amino Acid Geochronology Laboratory Archived 2017-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
- University of Massachusetts Amino Acid Geochronology Laboratory
- The University of Colorado Amino Acid Geochronology Lab
- University of Delaware Research Group
- University of York BioArCh
- Madrid School of Mines Biomolecular Stratigraphy Laboratory