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The Mid‐Pliocene Warm Period (MPWP, 2.9 to 3.3 Ma), along with older Pliocene (3.2 to 5.3 Ma) records, offers potential past analogues for our 400‐ppmv world. The coastal geology of western and southern coasts of the Republic of South Africa exposes an abundance of marine deposits of Pliocene and Pleistocene age. In this study, we report differential GPS elevations, detailed stratigraphic descriptions, standardized interpretations, and dating of relative sea‐level indicators measured across ~700 km from the western and southern coasts of the Cape Provinces. Wave abrasion surfaces on bedrock, intertidal sedimentary structures, and in situ marine invertebrates including oysters and barnacles provide precise indicators of past sea levels. Multiple sea‐level highstands imprinted at different elevations along South African coastlines were identified. Zone I sites average +32 ± 5 m (six sites). A lower topographic Zone II of sea stands were measured at several sites around +17 ± 5 m. Middle and late Pleistocene sites are included in Zone III. Shoreline chronologies using 87Sr/86Sr ages on shells from these zones yield ages from Zone I at 4.6 and 3.0 Ma and Zone II at 1.04 Ma. Our results show that polar ice sheets during the Plio‐Pleistocene were dynamic and subject to significant melting under modestly warmer global temperatures. These processes occurred during a period when CO2 concentrations were comparable to our current and rapidly rising values above 400 ppmv. Plain Language Summary: The ancient coastal deposits of the Republic of South Africa provide an opportunity to examine past climatic effects on ice sheets and sea levels during the Pliocene. This was the last time atmospheric CO2 was similar to our current and rising level of ~415 ppmv. Indicators of past sea levels were measured at a number of natural rock outcrops that date between about 1 and 5 million years old. Our studies have found that average sea levels ranged between 15 and 30 m higher than present. Postdepositional effects by crustal movements caused by plate tectonics or ice sheets are minor but have yet to be fully quantified. Regardless, our baseline field data have important implications for the magnitude of our present and future climate and sea‐level changes. Key Points: The relative tectonic stability of South Africa provides an optimal location for study of sea‐level historyThere is an abundance of excellent Pliocene and Pleistocene (5–1 Ma) marine exposures along the semiarid coastlinesPrecise measurements of these sea‐level indicators provide significant implications for the historical rise in CO2 levels above 400 ppmv [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several analytical techniques have been used in amino acid geochronology to measure the relative abundances of D- and L-enantiomers. During the past two decades, reverse-phase (RP) liquid chromatography has become most common, whereas ion-exchange (IE) liquid chromatography was widely used prior to the mid-1990s. This study is based on intra-lab paired analyses of RP and IE liquid chromatography to mathematically convert A/I (allo-isoleucine:isoleucine) values determined with IE to corresponding D/L values for comparison with new RP results. Pooled results of 340 paired IE and RP analyses show that A/I values can be confidently converted to equivalent D/L values for aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine, valine and isoleucine, with 2σ uncertainties of ±24–41% depending on the amino acid. For specific sample types including gastropod, bivalve, eggshell and whole rock, A/I can readily be converted to D/L aspartic acid and D/L glutamic acid with 2σ uncertainties of ±20% and 26%, respectively, using sample-type-specific relations. A/I is also reliably converted to D/L valine and D/L isoleucine with 2σ uncertainties of ±31 and 35%, respectively. Regression equations are provided to convert A/I to an equivalent D/L value for five amino acids, thereby enabling the large literature base of AAR results from IE chromatography to be compared and integrated with AAR results from RP chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the article "Sea level 400 000 years ago (MIS 11): analogue for present and future sea-level?" by D. Q. Brown.

Abstract: Despite the nearly 600 named species of the land snail Cerion, studies of the geological and paleontological framework of modern species are few. To address this deficiency, the biostratigraphic succession of Cerion was investigated at several areas on Long Island, Bahamas. A chronostratigraphic framework was developed through whole-rock and Cerion land snail aminostratigraphies. About 175 individual Cerion shells from last interglacial and Holocene deposits were age-ranked using stratigraphic position and amino acid racemization (AAR) geochronology. AAR ages were generated using an existing AAR-14C age model for Cerion from the central Bahamas. The age structure of Cerion fossils in sediments was determined with AAR ages, and the magnitude of “dead carbon” anomalies was evaluated using this chronological approach. Temporal changes in gross shell morphology were examined from four study areas. The last interglacial, marine isotope stage/substage (MIS) 5e (Aminozone E) is characterized by generally large shells and in some cases, bimodal sets of very small (α shells) and very large forms (β shells) coexisting in the same stratigraphic levels (primarily soils), which may encompass the transition from between MIS 5e and 5d/c. Similar bimodality of nearly identical α and β shell forms and sizes is observed at other late MIS 5e sites from the furthest reaches of Great Bahama Bank (including Long, Exumas, Eleuthera, and New Providence Islands). The widespread distribution of α and β forms in soils capping MIS 5e marine and eolian deposits implies that there may have been a synchronous, regional morphological convergence on Great Bahama Bank. None of these forms are observed in Holocene deposits of Aminozone A. The earliest MIS 1 Cerion appear in a oolite deposited 6500a BP, and are of intermediate size compared to the Pleistocene α and β forms. As MIS 1 progressed, the diversity of shell sizes and shapes increased into modern times. The greater variety of shell forms over the past 1000–2000a suggests that humans may have played a role in the introduction and redistribution of Cerion across the region. The potential for frequent and widespread human introductions, combined with the propensity of Cerion to hybridise freely may explain the farrago of shell sizes and shapes in the recent snail faunas of Long Island and other Bahama islands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The taxonomy of the land-snail genus Cerion, and the relevance of hundreds of shell forms to phylogenetic and evolutionary processes has been the subject of much discussion over the past few decades. Fundamental to understanding evolutionary trends is the independent confirmation of the age, biostratigraphic, and chronostratigraphic order of a comprehensive set of fossil forms. Amino acid racemization (AAR) is a geochronological tool applicable to dating living and fossil Cerion shells. The extent of racemization of aspartic acid (Asp D/L) and glutamic acid (Glu D/L) were determined for 507 Cerion shells dating between the early last interglaciation (marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e, c. 125ka) and the present from the Bahamas. The AAR data based on Cerion support the established morphostratigraphic succession of deposits younger than MIS 5e and provide greater resolution, particularly for biostratigraphic successions of Holocene age. Age models were constructed for Asp and Glu using D/L values paired with 14C ages and historical collection dates from 23 Cerion shells. In addition to the relative-age time series, the Holocene age models developed from D/L Glu and Asp apply to the last 7ka and geographically within the central Bahamas. In two case studies, large numbers of AAR-generated ages provide insights into the age structure of accretionary soils and rates and age constraints on evolutionary processes related to Cerion land snails. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Marine and eolian carbonate deposits, grouped under the name “Tamala Limestone”, have been investigated along thousands of kilometers of coastal Western Australia (WA). Relative-age diagenetic features of carbonate sand dunes or “eolianites” indicate that coastal ridges decrease in age seaward, reflecting coastal accretion during successive sea-level stands. Yellow- to red-stained quartz sands are associated with eolianites as pits, lenses, extensive beds, and even 40-m-high dunes. A regional survey using whole-rock and land snail amino acid epimerization geochronology confirms the eolianite succession and provides a means of correlating widespread deposits along a steep climatic gradient and 16° of latitude. AMS 14C and uranium–thorium (U/Th) ages provide independent radiometric calibration of the amino acid ratios, and eolianite ages can be estimated using a parabolic kinetic model. Over 90% of the sampled eolianite deposits comprise Aminozones A, C, E (125ka), F?, G, and H, and correlate with interglacials from <10ka (Holocene) to ca. 500ka. In contrast, at the type locality of the Tamala Limestone along the Zuytdorp Cliffs, the upper eolianite-paleosol units are characterized by advanced stages of cavernous weathering, pedogenesis, and recrystallization. In the same units, sediment and snail samples generally yield very low or non-detectable levels of amino acids. These factors along with the stratigraphic complexity of the deposits reflect an age much greater than a large majority of sites along the WA coastline. These findings encourage a revision of the existing classification and nomenclature of Quaternary carbonate deposits in WA, as well as a reexamination of the underlying mechanisms related to the formation and emplacement of both carbonate and quartz dunes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information on The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Annual Technical Conference and Expo to be held at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California from October 26-29, 2009.