Articles | Volume 7, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-459-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-459-2025
Research article
 | 
10 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 10 Oct 2025

Carbonate 206Pb ∕ 238U problems and potential 207Pb ∕ 235U fixes

Pieter Vermeesch, Noah McLean, Anton Vaks, Tzahi Golan, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, and Randall Parrish

Model code and software

Data and code for "Carbonate 206Pb/238U problems and potential 207Pb/235 fixes'' Pieter Vermeesch https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16262131

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Short summary
U–Pb dating of cave sediments has provided important new time constraints on the evolution of cave-dwelling organisms (including early humans) and of Earth's climate during the past 5 Myr. This paper shows that the most common type of U–Pb dating, which uses 238U and 206Pb, can be inaccurate beyond ca. 2 Myr ago. It proposes an alternative type of U–Pb dating, using 235U and 207Pb, as a more accurate alternative.
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