This manuscript presents a new method to date geological events affecting sedimentary rocks. This method relies on the potential for the zircon U-Pb system to be disturbed during fluid-flow, alteration, and metamorphic events in sedimentary rocks. This manuscript presents synthetic datasets for testing the accuracy and precision of the discordance dating method, as well as data from detrital zircons found in the contact metamorphic aureole surround the Alta Stock.

Laser-based dating of rocks and minerals is invaluable in geoscience. This study presents a significant advancement in our ability to model and correct for a process called downhole fractionation (DHF) that can impact the accuracy and uncertainty of dates. We develop an algorithm that quantitatively models DHF patterns. The implications are far-reaching: improved accuracy, reduced uncertainty, and easier comparisons between different samples and laboratories.

We present the first new image-based study to reveal how choices made by different analysts affect the results obtained by fission-track analysis. Participants analyzed an identical image data set with varying grain quality. Experienced analysts tend to select lower rates of unsuitable grains and conduct lower rates of invalid length measurements. Fission-track studies need image data repositories, teaching modules, guidelines, an open science culture, and new approaches for calibration.

We use a method called cosmogenic nuclide dating on bedrock surfaces and moraine boulders to determine the relative length of time an alpine glacier was larger or smaller than its current extent over the past 15 thousand years. We also discuss several important limitations to this method. This method gives information on the duration of past ice advances and is useful in areas without other materials that can be dated.

We present a set of six standardized time-temperature histories, which we call benchmark paths, that can be used by the low-temperature thermochronology community to evaluate and visualize the sensitivity of thermochronologic systems to the variables inherent in the interpretation of thermochronologic data. As an example, we present a method for “tuning” each benchmark path to eleven published kinetics models (for the apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He, apatite fission-track, and zircon (U-Th)/He systems).

Age-depth models assign ages to sampling locations (e.g., in drill cores), making them crucial to determined timing and pace of past changes. We present two methods to estimate age-depth models from sedimentological and stratigraphic information, resulting in richer and more empirically realistic age-depth models. As a use case, we determine (1) the timing of the Frasnian-Famennian extinction and (2) examine the duration of PETM, an potential deep time analogue for anthropogenic climate change.

We performed a statistical analysis of high precision U-Pb zircon age distributions. This reveals that volcanic and porphyry zircon age distributions are skewed to younger ages, whereas plutonic age distributions are skewed to older ages. We show that this is caused  by truncation of zircon crystallisation by magma evacuation, rather than differences in magmatic flux. Our contribution has key implications for modelling of magma dynamics and eruption ages using zircon age distributions.

The timing of an ancient gravity slide that originated in the Marysvale volcanic field (Utah) is constrained using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of pseudotachylyte, a friction-induced glass that is generated during slide movement, and the volcanic tuffs that were displaced by the slide and those that overly the slide mass. Our results suggest that the Sevier gravity slide occurred at 25.25 Ma. The removal of such a large volume of material likely allowed for the eruption of the Antimony Tuff at 25.19 Ma. 

The equatorial Pacific is an important region that helps determine Earth's climate. This work presents new age models for two sediment core sites located in that region, spanning the last 280 ka. Our age models are based on new radiocarbon dates and oxygen isotope measurements. We also use the oxygen isotope data to infer changes in sea surface salinity patterns, finding evidence for a change in the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) on glacial/interglacial timescales.

We present an approach to U-Pb dating of carbonates using isotopic image maps. The maps are divided into squares called virtual spots. For each virtual spot, statistical values (mean, uncertainty) are used to determine the age. The user can modify the size and location of the virtual spots and select those that give the most robust age. This approach, applied to high spatial resolution images, makes it possible for the first time to obtain satisfactory ages on images as small as 100 µm x 100 µm.

Sediment generation on hillslopes and transport through river networks are complex processes that influence landscape evolution. In this study compiled sand from over 600 river basins and measured its (very subtle) radioactivity to unravel timelines of sediment routing around the world. With this data we empirically confirm that sediment from large lowland basins in tectonically stable regions typically experiences long periods of burial, while sediment moves rapidly through small upland basins.

This article presents a non-destructive method for studying laminated sediments with X-ray computed tomography (μCT). It aims to study the possibility of using μCT as an analytical tool to analyse varved sediments in the context of paleoclimatic studies. As results, µCT offers the possibility of to do fasts analysis and constitutes a powerful tool to improve the quality of results through the access of a 3D view allowing choosing the most representative part of varved record.

We apply luminescence dating of feldspars to establish a geochronological framework for the sequence of accretionary hillslope deposition at Jojosi, which contain important archaeological artefacts. We test and evaluate four different dose models and their applicability to single grain and multi-grain data sets containing up to 67 % saturated grains. Our results constrain erosional and depositional processes from 100–700 ka, and human occupation of the area in the early MIS 5 and late MIS 6.

We have built a database of (U-Th)/He ages and U and Th contents of goethites from various weathering environments. The database contains 2597 (U-Th)/He ages of goethites from 10 countries. The findings presented in this manuscript contribute insights onto the distribution of dated goethites from different environments globally and into the Earth's Cenozoic weathering history.

Sedimentary rocks are typically dated indirectly, by comparing the fossil content of basins with the geological timescale. In this study, we employed an absolute dating approach to date 19 million year old sediments in the Paris Basin, using uranium-lead dating of calcite nodules associated with soil formation. The precision of our new ages enable more accurate comparisons (independent of their fossil contents) between the Paris Basin and other basins of similar age.

To investigate the Laurentide Ice Sheet’s erosivity before and during the Last Glacial Maximum, we sampled sand deposited by ice in eastern Canada before final deglaciation. We also sampled modern river sand. The ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be measured in glacial deposited sediments suggests that ice remained during some Pleistocene warm periods and was an inefficient eroder. Similar concentrations of ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be in modern sand suggests that most modern river sediment is sourced from glacial deposits.