< Back to Volume 17, Number 2
Volume 17: Number 2: Article 7
Proof Positive - Loch Ness Was an Ancient Arm of the Sea
Robert H. Rines, Frank M. Dougherty, Academy of Applied Science,
30-31 Union Wharf, Boston, MA 02109
For the first time, indisputable marine deposits have been recovered
from Loch Ness. Recovered clam shells have been reproducibly dated by
the radio-carbon (14C) method to about 12,800 years before
present (BP), which corresponds to the end of the last glaciation. Hitherto,
this oceanic incursion has been doubted or denied by many observers.
Such a period of marine incursion is crucially demanded by the hypothesis
that the Loch Ness ''monsters'' are or were a reproducing population
of creatures too large to move in and out of the loch under current
conditions. Even more remarkably, aminoacid racemization indicates an
age of about 125,000 years for some of the deposits, corresponding to
the previous interglacial period. If the latter dating withstands further
investigation, current beliefs about the chronology of glaciation and
land-and-sea-level changes at and around Loch Ness will have to be modified.
Keywords: Loch Ness (marine incursions), Ice Ages (Scotland)
FULL TEXT:
Proof Positive - Loch Ness Was an Ancient Arm of the Sea
To purchase back issues contact Allen Marketing & Management: 1-800-627-0629
