IDENTIFICATION OF REMANIE FOSSILS USING AMINO-ACID RACEMIZATION

The extent of racemisation for a range of amino acids for the total ac id hydrolysate and free fractions, calibrated against radiocarbon dati ng, indicates that the foraminifer Marginopora vertebralis, found with in ''modern'' tidal flat sediments between Wardang Island and Goose Is land, South Australia, is reworked from the underlying Late Pleistocen e Glanville Formation. Analyses of amino acids in the total acid hydro lysate and free fractions in conjunction with the determination of abs olute concentrations of amino acid residues in fossils, provides an el egant method for assessing the validity of amino acid racemisation dat ing, and in identifying reworked fossils.