Current research

Sr-isotope calibration of racemization kinetics in Quaternary fossils (in collaboration with W. B. Harris, B. S. Boutin, and Kathleen Farrell). Manuscript submitted, late May, 2011, resubmission planned Sept. 2011 (paper now published in Quaternary Geochronology)

Collaboration with Kelvin Ramsey and Jaime Tomlinson, Delaware Geological Survey, in obtained new geochronology data for Delaware sites and compilation of previously obtained data for Delmarva sites.

Collaboration with NJ Geological Survey and Rutgers University in NJ shelf stratigraphy (manuscript submitted to Geosphere, June 2012)

Interlaboratory comparison of amino acid enantiomeric ratios, with colleagues at labs in the US, UK, Spain, and elsewhere. For more information, see the data report and poster from the 2010 Geological Society of America meeting. A manuscript (submitted version - August 2012) on this work is now in press, Quaternary Geochronology. The currently active labs that participated in this effort are listed below:

Northern Arizona University, USA

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~dsk5/AAGL/

University of Colorado, USA

http://instaar.colorado.edu/research/labs-groups/amino-acid-geochronology-laboratory/

University of Delaware, USA

http://www.geosci.udel.edu/wehmiller/home

York University, United Kingdom

http://www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/staff/academic/o-s/kpenkman/

University of Wollongong, Australia

http://www.uow.edu.au/science/eesc/eesstaff/UOW002975.html

Laboratorio de Estratigrafía Biomolecular, José E. Ortiz and Trinidad de Torres. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas de Madrid, C/Ríos Rosas 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain

Archival data storage for Quaternary aminostratigraphy - an NSF-funded program to involve US aminostratigraphy labs in the first phase of development of a community data management effort. As part of this effort, a new data archive site has been established (Jan. 2011) at the NOAA National Climate Data Center. Progress on this effort can be seen here. See also this developing ArcGis site for New England and this one for the Mid-Atlantic region. [Final grant report submitted Oct. 1, 2012 - summary report available here.]

Compilation of locality information for sites in Florida for which aminostratigraphic data exist (with Roger Portell, Rick Oches, Dan Belknap, Dick Mitterer, and Paul Karrow). This is a work in progress as we try to compile the long history of AAR work by many authors over the past 40 years.

Bleaching experiments to analyze intracrystalline amino acids in selected fossils

Synthesis of 10+ years of ground temperature monitoring at sites from Maine to Florida, including two sites in the Mississippi Vally. A Google Earth file of these sites, with links to datafiles, is available here.

Modeling racemization reactions using laboratory experimentation and age-calibrated field samples.

Distribution of Quaternary fossils on Atlantic coast beaches - implications for subsurface and shoreface geology. Example publication.

US Atlantic Coastal Plain U-series coral dating. Example publication.

Southern California marine terrace geochronology. ArcGis compilation of AAR study sites. This is a work in progress as we compile many years of data from various laboratories. See also datafile for localities included in Kennedy et al., 1982 (Nature). Files will be archived at the NOAA AAR site as they are completed.

Compilation of data for Atlantic Coast sites where either U-Th or OSL data have been obtained.

Encyclopedia of Geochronology (Springer) - Associate Editor.

Images of important field locations:

US Atlantic Coastal Plain

Gomez Pit, Virginia Beach, VA: #1, #2, #3, #4

Charleston SC area: Rifle Range Pit; Sease Pit; Scanawah Island; Berkeley Pit