Abstract
MOST investigators have been of the opinion that proteinaceous and carbohydrate materials that are deposited in marine and lake sediments cannot survive for long periods of time but are rapidly decomposed. However, in recent years several investigators have shown the presence of amino-acids in Tertiary shales1and in fossil shells and bones as old as the Devonian2.
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Erdman, J. G., Marlett, E. M., and Hanson, W. E., Science, 124, 1026 (1956).
Abelson, P. H., “Organic Constituents of Fossils”, Carnegie Inst Washington Year Book, 53, 97 (1954).
Weygand, F., Perkow, W., and Kuhner, P., Ber., 84, 594 (1951).
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PALACAS, J., SWAIN, F. & SMITH, F. Presence of Carbohydrates and Other Organic Compounds in Ancient Sedimentary Rocks. Nature 185, 234 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/185234a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/185234a0
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