Geochronology 

The concept of open data has become the modern science meme. Funding bodies and publishers support open data. However, the open data mandate frequently encounters technical obstacles, such as a lack of a suitable data format for data sharing and long-term data preservation. Such issues are often community-specific and demand community-tailored solutions. We propose a new human-readable data format for data exchange and long-term preservation of luminescence data called XLUM.

We propose using the Wasserstein-2 distance (W₂) as an alternative to the widely used Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) statistic for analysing distributional data in geochronology. W₂ measures the horizontal distance between observations, while KS measures vertical differences in cumulative distributions. Using case studies, we find that W₂ is preferable in scenarios where the absolute age differences in observations provide important geological information. W₂ has been added to the R package IsoplotR.

We present our model ChronoLorica. We coupled the original Lorica model, which simulates soil and landscape evolution, with a geochronological module that traces cosmogenic nuclide inventories and particle ages through simulations. These properties are often measured in the field to determine rates of landscape change. The coupling enables calibration of the model and the study of how soil, landscapes and geochronometers change under complex boundary conditions such as intensive land management.

Accurately dating ocean cores is challenging because the radiocarbon age of water masses varies substantially. We identify ash fragments from eruptions more than 4000 km from their source and use these time markers to develop a new age–depth model for an ocean core in Placentia Bay, North Atlantic. Our results show that the radiocarbon age of waters masses in the bay varied considerably during the last 10 000 years and highlight the potential of using ultra-distal ash deposits in this region.

(U–Th) / He dating relies on proper characterization of apatite crystal dimensions so that eU concentrations and dates can be calculated accurately and precisely, but there is systematic error and uncertainty in geometric measurements. By comparing 2D microscopy to true 3D measurements, we present a simple solution to correcting the error and quantifying the geometric uncertainty in eU and dates. Including this geometric correction and uncertainty matters for data evaluation and interpretation.

When using the uranium–lead (U–Pb) radiometric dating method on very young materials (e.g. Quaternary age zircon and carbonate minerals), it is important to accurately account for the production and decay of intermediate daughter isotopes in the uranium-series decay chain. DQPB is open-source software that allows users to easily perform such calculations for a variety of sample types and produce publication-ready graphical outputs of the resulting age information.

This paper describes geoChronR, an R package that streamlines the process of quantifying age uncertainties, propagating uncertainties through several common analyses, and visualizing the results. In addition to describing the structure and underlying theory of the package, we present five real-world use cases that illustrate common workflows in geoChronR. geoChronR is built on the Linked PaleoData framework, is open and extensible, and we welcome feedback and contributions from the community.

Using a relatively new dating technique, in situ Rb–Sr geochronology, we constrain the ages of two generations of mineral assemblages from the Tropicana Zone, Western Australia. The first, dated at ca. 2535 Ma, is associated with exhumation of an Archean craton margin and gold mineralization. The second, dated at ca. 1210 Ma, has not been previously documented in the Tropicana Zone. It is probably associated with Stage II of the Albany–Fraser Orogeny and additional gold mineralization.

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.