We use microCT scanning to improve the quality of ³He exposure ages measured in detrital magnetite. We show that the presence of inclusions can significantly increase the measured amount of ³He and thereby the exposure age. By prescreening magnetite with microCT and analyzing only inclusion-free grains, this problem can be avoided. We also calibrate the cosmogenic ³He production rate in magnetite relative to ¹⁰Be in quartz, which can be used for similar studies in the future.

A conventional isochron is a straight-line fit to two sets of isotopic ratios, D/d and P/d, where P is the radioactive parent, D is the radiogenic daughter, and d is a second isotope of the daughter element. The slope of this line is proportional to the age of the system. An inverse isochron is a linear fit through d/D and P/D. The horizontal intercept of this line is inversely proportional to the age. The latter approach is preferred when d<D, which is the case in Re–Os and K–Ca geochronology.

We describe the design and performance of a new noble gas mass laboratory dedicated to the development of and application to cosmogenic nuclides at the University of Cologne (Germany). At the core of the laboratory are a state-of-the-art high-mass-resolution multicollector Helix MCPlus (Thermo-Fisher) noble gas mass spectrometer and a novel custom-designed automated extraction line, including a laser-powered extraction furnace. Performance was tested with intercomparison (CREU-1) material.

We introduce a new model of how etching reveals damage tracks left by fissioning atoms, which accounts for variable along-track etching rates. This complete characterization explains many observations, including community difficulty in obtaining consistent track length measurements. It also provides a quantitative basis for optimizing etching procedures, discerning more about how radiation damage anneals, and ultimately deriving more reproducible fission-track ages and thermal histories.

Here we present the foundation dataset for TephraNZ, a formal, comprehensive, open-access reference dataset of glass-shard compositions for New Zealand tephras. We geochemically characterise 45 eruptive episodes ranging from Kaharoa (ca. 636 cal yr BP) to the Hikuroa Pumice member (ca. 2.0 Ma) from six or more caldera sources, most from the central Taupō Volcanic Zone.

Cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating is commonly used to constrain the timing of past glacier extents. However, Antarctic exposure age datasets are often scattered and difficult to interpret. We compile new and existing exposure ages of a glacial deposit with independently known age constraints and identify surface processes that increase or reduce the likelihood of exposure age scatter. Then we present new data for a previously unmapped and undated older deposit from the same region.

We apply new rock luminescence techniques to a well-constrained scenario of the Beinn Alligin rock avalanche, NW Scotland. We measure accurate erosion rates consistent with independently derived rates and reveal a transient state of erosion over the last ~4000 years in the wet, temperate climate of NW Scotland. This study shows that the new luminescence erosion-meter has huge potential for inferring erosion rates on sub-millennial scales, which is currently impossible with existing techniques.

This research is part of a PhD thesis examining evaporite detachments characteristics. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology is employed to constrain the timing of formation and deformation events. A diagenetic age of ~514 Ma is interpreted from the oldest significant step age. Other step ages may represent a Cambrian–Permian deformation event or a complex mixing age of diagenetic Ar with partially reset Ar during the Cenozoic. We report the first closure temperature for polyhalite between 254 and 277 °C.

Fission tracks are generated in minerals due to spontaneous fission of uranium-238. The initial track length decreases with time due to recrystallization. The age of a track can be calculated by counting the number of the shorter tracks per volume and including the decay constant. However, the theoretical order of the track length versus time is disrupted by uncertainties. We shown how the order can be re-established. The age of tectonic events such as uplift and burial can then be determined.