22. DATA REPORT: AMINO ACID RACEMIZATION GEOCHRONOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SELECTED LEG 155 SAMPLES¹

John F. Wehmiller² and Frank R. Hall³

ABSTRACT

Amino acid racemization measurements have been conducted on selected samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 155 to evaluate the utility of this method for geochronological purposes. Sample size limited the number of analyses, but samples that were successfully processed included one sample of Holocene age, one from oxygen isotope Substage 5e, and two pre-Substage 5e samples. These latter two samples appear to be Stage 7 age, possibly Stage 9. One is from a disturbed zone that could include specimens of different ages. Geothermal heating effects on racemization are potentially significant for these samples and require further evaluation.

¹Flood, R.D., Piper, D.J.W., Klaus, A., and Peterson, L.C. (Eds.), 1997. Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 155: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program).
²Dept. of Geology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A. jwehm@udel.edu
³College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A.