Abstracted/indexed

The U–Pb method is one of the most powerful and versatile methods in the geochronological toolbox. With two isotopes of uranium decaying to two different isotopes of lead, the U–Pb method offers an internal quality control that is absent from most other geochronological techniques. U-bearing minerals often contain significant amounts of Th, which decays to a third Pb isotope. This paper presents an algorithm to jointly process all three chronometers at once.

Optically stimulated luminescence dates the last exposure of quartz and feldspar minerals to sunlight. We investigated its sub-methods (TT-OSL, VSL, and pIRIR) to date middle and early Pleistocene sediments. Inspection of natural signals of samples can reveal saturated samples that produce only minimum ages. Using these sub-methods, minimum ages of up to the early Pleistocene can be obtained for eastern Mediterranean aeolian sediments of Nilotic origin.

Nikon–TRACKFlow is a new system with dedicated modules for automated microscope control and imaging for fission track laboratories. It is based on the Nikon Eclipse Ni-E motorised upright microscope and embedded within Nikon NIS-Elements software. The system decouples image acquisition from analysis based on a number of automated user-friendly designs and protocols. Nikon–TRACKFlow aims to grow towards a high-throughput imaging system for Earth Sciences and other material-oriented sciences.

In this study we present a new marine chronology of the last ~30 000 years for a sediment core retrieved from the central Arctic Ocean. Our new chronology reveals substantially faster sedimentation rates during the end of the last glacial cycle, the Last Glacial Maximum, and deglaciation than previously reported, thus implying a substantial re-interpretation of paleoceanographic reconstructions from this sector of the Arctic Ocean.

Recent technological advances allow researchers to obtain radiocarbon ages from smaller samples than previously possible. We investigate the reliability and precision of radiocarbon ages obtained from miniature (11–150 μg C) samples of terrestrial plant fragments taken from sediment cores from Lake Żabińskie, Poland. We further investigate how sampling density (the number of ages per 1000 years) and sample mass (which is related to age precision) influence the performance of age–depth models.

Rates of landscape evolution over the past million years are difficult to quantify. This study develops a technique which is able to measure changes in rock cooling rates (related to landscape evolution) over this timescale. The technique is based on the electron spin resonance dating of quartz minerals. Measurement protocols and new numerical models are proposed that describe these data, allowing for their translation into rock cooling rates.

The oldest known minerals on Earth are Hadean (> 4.0 Ga) zircons from the Jack Hills, Australia. We present the first application to such Hadean zircons of stepwise chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry with trace element analysis (stepwise CA-ID-TIMS-TEA). We examine the evolution in the U–Pb age and trace element chemistry of zircon domains accessed by successive chemical abrasion steps in the context of the geologic history of the Jack Hills zircons.