Articles | Volume 4, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022
Research article
 | 
19 Aug 2022
Research article |  | 19 Aug 2022

An algorithm for U–Pb geochronology by secondary ion mass spectrometry

Pieter Vermeesch

Related authors

Broken 206Pb/238U carbonate chronometers and 207Pb/235U fixes
Pieter Vermeesch, Noah McLean, Anton Vaks, Tzahi Golan, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, and Randall Parris
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-432,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-432, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
Short summary
Errorchrons and anchored isochrons in IsoplotR
Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 6, 397–407, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-397-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-397-2024, 2024
Short summary
Technical note: In situ U–Th–He dating by 4He ∕ 3He laser microprobe analysis
Pieter Vermeesch, Yuntao Tian, Jae Schwanethal, and Yannick Buret
Geochronology, 5, 323–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-323-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-323-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short communication: The Wasserstein distance as a dissimilarity metric for comparing detrital age spectra and other geological distributions
Alex Lipp and Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 5, 263–270, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-263-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-263-2023, 2023
Short summary
Origin of Great Unconformity Obscured by Thermochronometric Uncertainty
Matthew Fox, Adam G. G. Smith, Pieter Vermeesch, Kerry Gallagher, and Andrew Carter
Geochronology Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2022-23,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2022-23, 2022
Publication in GChron not foreseen
Short summary

Related subject area

Geochronological data analysis/statistics/modelling
Controls on zircon age distributions in volcanic, porphyry and plutonic rocks
Chetan Nathwani, Dawid Szymanowski, Lorenzo Tavazzani, Sava Markovic, Adrianna L. Virmond, and Cyril Chelle-Michou
Geochronology, 7, 15–33, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-15-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-15-2025, 2025
Short summary
Interpreting cooling dates and histories from laser ablation in situ (U–Th–Sm) ∕ He thermochronometry: a modelling perspective
Christoph Glotzbach and Todd A. Ehlers
Geochronology, 6, 697–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short communication: Nanoscale heterogeneity of U and Pb in baddeleyite from atom probe tomography – 238U series alpha recoil effects and U atom clustering
Steven Denyszyn, Donald W. Davis, and Denis Fougerouse
Geochronology, 6, 607–619, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-607-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-607-2024, 2024
Short summary
In situ rubidium–strontium geochronology of white mica in young metamafic and metasomatic rocks from Syros: testing the limits of laser-ablation triple-quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer mica dating using different anchoring approaches
Jesús Muñoz-Montecinos, Andrea Giuliani, Senan Oesch, Silvia Volante, Bradley Peters, and Whitney Behr
Geochronology, 6, 585–605, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-585-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-585-2024, 2024
Short summary
An optimization tool for identifying multiple-diffusion domain model parameters
Andrew L. Gorin, Joshua M. Gorin, Marie Bergelin, and David L. Shuster
Geochronology, 6, 521–540, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-521-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-521-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Aitchison, J.: The Statistical Analysis of Compositional Data, J. Roy. Stat. Soc., 44, 139–177, 1982. a
Aitchison, J.: The statistical analysis of compositional data, London, Chapman and Hall, ISBN 0412280604, 1986. a
Black, L. P.: The use of multiple reference samples for the monitoring of ion microprobe performance during zircon 207Pb /206Pb age determinations, Geostand. Geoanal. Res., 29, 169–182, 2005. a
Black, L. P., Kamo, S. L., Allen, C. M., Davis, D. W., Aleinikoff, J. N., Valley, J. W., Mundil, R., Campbell, I. H., Korsch, R. J., Williams, I. S., and Foudoulis, C.: Improved 206Pb /238U microprobe geochronology by the monitoring of a trace-element-related matrix effect; SHRIMP, ID–TIMS, ELA–ICP–MS and oxygen isotope documentation for a series of zircon standards, Chem. Geol., 205, 115–140, 2004. a
Bodorkos, S., Bowring, J., and Rayner, N.: Squid3: Next-generation Data Processing Software for Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe (SHRIMP), Geoscience Australia, https://doi.org/10.11636/133870, 2020. a, b
Download
Short summary
Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is the oldest and most sensitive analytical technique for in situ U–Pb geochronology. This paper introduces a new algorithm for SIMS data reduction that treats data as compositional data, which means that the relative abundances of 204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb, and 238Pb are processed within a tetrahedral data space or simplex. The new method is implemented in an eponymous computer programme that is compatible with the two dominant types of SIMS instruments.
Share