Articles | Volume 5, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-91-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-5-91-2023
Research article
 | 
07 Feb 2023
Research article |  | 07 Feb 2023

Calculation of uncertainty in the (U–Th) ∕ He system

Peter E. Martin, James R. Metcalf, and Rebecca M. Flowers

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Cited articles

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Short summary
There is currently no standardized method of performing uncertainty propagation in the (U–Th) / He system, causing data interpretation difficulties. We present two methods of uncertainty propagation and describe free, open-source software (HeCalc) to apply them. Compilation of real data using only analytical uncertainty as well as 2 % and 5 % uncertainties in FT yields respective median relative date uncertainties of 2.9 %, 3.3 %, and 5.0 % for apatites and 1.7 %, 3.3 %, and 5.0 % for zircons.