Abstract
We report here that shells of the marine bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica, collected near King Edward, Scotland, yield isoleucine epimerization D/L ratios only slightly higher than ratios in late-glacial specimens of the same taxon collected from nearby sites. We have determined the ages of two of the King Edward shells by tandem-accelerator mass spectrometry (TAMS) radiocarbon dating to be >40kyr. From the difference in D/L ratios, we calculate the average temperature depression during the last glaciation to have been ≥9 °C below Holocene temperatures.
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Miller, G., Jull, A., Linick, T. et al. Racemization-derived late Devensian temperature reduction in Scotland. Nature 326, 593–595 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/326593a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/326593a0
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