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

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-432', Perach Nuriel, 13 Mar 2025
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Pieter Vermeesch, 13 May 2025
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-432', Timothy Pollard, 07 May 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on CC1', Pieter Vermeesch, 13 May 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-432', Robyn Pickering, 13 May 2025
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Pieter Vermeesch, 29 May 2025

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (07 Jun 2025) by Axel Schmitt
AR by Pieter Vermeesch on behalf of the Authors (02 Jul 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (05 Jul 2025) by Axel Schmitt
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (05 Jul 2025) by Klaus Mezger (Editor)
AR by Pieter Vermeesch on behalf of the Authors (21 Jul 2025)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval
AA by Pieter Vermeesch on behalf of the Authors (07 Oct 2025)   Author's adjustment   Manuscript
EA: Adjustments approved (07 Oct 2025) by Axel Schmitt
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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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