Natural Science

The Search for Solutions to Mysterious Anomalies in the Geologic Column

Abstract

There is convincing evidence that soft tissue and other biomolecules have survived from the Mesozoic to the present, possibly because of their interaction with blood iron and/or carbonate adsorption. Here we present the results of investigations showing that ancient biomolecules and their decay products contain significantly higher percent Modern carbon (pMC = 14C/12C) values than diamond and coal. South African diamonds yielded pMC values of from 0.16 to 0.11 pMC, or ages of 52,000 to 55,000 Carbon-14 years before present (14C years BP) [Baumgardner et al., 2003]. Ten coal specimens from the United States from Eocene and Pennsylvanian strata were 0.33 to 0.16 pMC, or 46,000 to 52,000 14C years BP. By comparison, our field and lab study of ten dinosaurs from Texas to Alaska plus China yielded much higher pMC’s of 6.50 to 0.61, or 22,000 to 41,000 14C years BP after pretreatment to remove old and modern soil contaminants. The evidence for endogenous pMC was further enhanced by the δ13C range of -20.1 to -23.8 for collagen, -16.6 to -28.4 for bulk organic, and -3.1 to -9.1 for CO3 fractions. This data clarifies why such biomolecules have persisted. These unexpected results call for replication to determine whether they are anomalous. If not, the implication is that a portion of the geological time scale should be condensed, indicating a higher risk to Earth of meteorite impact due to greater frequency. We recommend systematic 14C dating of similar samples taken from different parts of the entire geologic column.

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