Articles | Volume 7, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-459-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-459-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
10 Oct 2025
Research article |
| 10 Oct 2025
| 10 Oct 2025
Carbonate 206Pb ∕ 238U problems and potential 207Pb ∕ 235U fixes
Dept. of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
Noah McLean
Dept. of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, United States
Anton Vaks
Geological Survey of Israel, 9692100 Jerusalem, Israel
Tzahi Golan
Geological Survey of Israel, 9692100 Jerusalem, Israel
Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach
Dept. of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Randall Parrish
Dept. of Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK
Related authors
Pieter Vermeesch, Tim Band, Jiangping He, Rex Galbraith, and Andrew Carter
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4948, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4948, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
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geochron@home is an open-source platform that makes fission track dating more transparent and reliable. It combines a virtual microscope with an online database to share images and data openly, following FAIR principles. Researchers can analyse tracks privately, archive data for peer review, teach students, or involve citizen scientists. By improving data access and reproducibility, geochron@home helps build trust and supports future advances in Earth science.
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
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The age of some geological materials can be estimated from the ratio of certain radiogenic "daughter" isotopes to their radioactive "parent". However, in many cases, the age estimation process is complicated by the presence of an inherited component of non-radiogenic daughter isotopes. This paper presents an improved algorithm to estimate the radiogenic and non-radiogenic components, either separately or jointly.
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
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The U–Th–He method is a technique to determine the cooling history of minerals. Traditional approaches to U–Th–He dating are time-consuming and require handling strong acids and radioactive solutions. This paper presents an alternative approach in which samples are irradiated with protons and subsequently analysed by laser ablation mass spectrometry. Unlike previous in situ U–Th–He dating attempts, the new method does not require any absolute concentration measurements of U, Th, or He.
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
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We propose using the Wasserstein-2 distance (W2) as an alternative to the widely used Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) statistic for analysing distributional data in geochronology. W2 measures the horizontal distance between observations, while KS measures vertical differences in cumulative distributions. Using case studies, we find that W2 is preferable in scenarios where the absolute age differences in observations provide important geological information. W2 has been added to the R package IsoplotR.
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
Short summary
The Great Unconformity represents an enormous amount of time lost from the sedimentary record. Its origin is debated, in part, due to different approaches used to interpret zircon (U–Th)/He ages. This thermochronometric system is ideal for this problem because the temperature sensitivity varies according to radiation damage. Here we explore the uncertainty associated with the radiation damage model and show how this limits our ability to resolve the origin of the Great Unconformity.
Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 4, 561–576, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022, 2022
Short summary
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.
Yang Li and Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 3, 415–420, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-415-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-415-2021, 2021
Short summary
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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.
Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 3, 247–257, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-247-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-247-2021, 2021
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This paper shows that the current practice of filtering discordant U–Pb data based on the relative difference between the 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/206Pb ages is just one of several possible approaches to the problem and demonstrably not the best one. An alternative approach is to define discordance in terms of isotopic composition, as a log ratio distance between the measurement and the concordia line. Application to real data indicates that this reduces the positive bias of filtered age spectra.
Pieter Vermeesch, Tim Band, Jiangping He, Rex Galbraith, and Andrew Carter
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4948, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4948, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
Short summary
Short summary
geochron@home is an open-source platform that makes fission track dating more transparent and reliable. It combines a virtual microscope with an online database to share images and data openly, following FAIR principles. Researchers can analyse tracks privately, archive data for peer review, teach students, or involve citizen scientists. By improving data access and reproducibility, geochron@home helps build trust and supports future advances in Earth science.
Stuart Umbo, Franziska Lechleitner, Thomas Opel, Sevasti Modestou, Tobias Braun, Anton Vaks, Gideon Henderson, Pete Scott, Alexander Osintzev, Alexandr Kononov, Irina Adrian, Yuri Dublyansky, Alena Giesche, and Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach
Clim. Past, 21, 1533–1551, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1533-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1533-2025, 2025
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We use cave rocks to reconstruct northern Siberian climate in 8.68 ± 0.09 Ma. We show that when the global average temperature was about 4.5 °C warmer than today (similar to what is expected in the coming decades should carbon emissions continue unabated), the Siberian Arctic temperature increased by more than 18 °C.
Lutz Schirrmeister, Margret C. Fuchs, Thomas Opel, Andrei Andreev, Frank Kienast, Andrea Schneider, Larisa Nazarova, Larisa Frolova, Svetlana Kuzmina, Tatiana Kuznetsova, Vladimir Tumskoy, Heidrun Matthes, Gerrit Lohmann, Guido Grosse, Viktor Kunitsky, Hanno Meyer, Heike H. Zimmermann, Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Stuart Umbo, Sevi Modestou, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Anfisa Pismeniuk, Georg Schwamborn, Stephanie Kusch, and Sebastian Wetterich
Clim. Past, 21, 1143–1184, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1143-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1143-2025, 2025
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Geochronological, cryolithological, paleoecological, and modeling data reconstruct the Last Interglacial (LIG) climate around the New Siberian Islands and reveal significantly warmer conditions compared to today. The critical challenges in predicting future ecosystem responses lie in the fact that the land–ocean distribution during the LIG was markedly different from today, affecting the degree of continentality, which played a major role in modulating climate and ecosystem dynamics.
Jade Margerum, Julia Homann, Stuart Umbo, Gernot Nehrke, Thorsten Hoffmann, Anton Vaks, Aleksandr Kononov, Alexander Osintsev, Alena Giesche, Andrew Mason, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Gideon M. Henderson, Ola Kwiecien, and Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach
Clim. Past, 21, 661–677, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-661-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-661-2025, 2025
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We analyse a southern Siberian stalagmite to reconstruct soil respiration, wildfire, and vegetation trends during the Last Interglacial (LIG) (124.1–118.8 ka) and the Holocene (10–0 ka). Wildfires were more prevalent during the LIG than the Holocene and were supported by fire-prone species, low soil respiration, and a greater difference between summer and winter temperature. We show that vegetation type and summer/winter temperature contrast are strong drivers of Siberian wildfires.
Sina Panitz, Michael Rogerson, Jack Longman, Nick Scroxton, Tim J. Lawson, Tim C. Atkinson, Vasile Ersek, James Baldini, Lisa Baldini, Stuart Umbo, Mahjoor A. Lone, Gideon M. Henderson, and Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach
Clim. Past, 21, 261–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-261-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-261-2025, 2025
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Reconstructions of past glaciations tell us about how ice sheets grow and retreat. In this study, we use speleothems (cave deposits, e.g. stalagmites) in the British Isles to help constrain the extent of past glaciations in both time and space. Speleothems require liquid water to grow, and therefore their presence indicates the absence of ice above the cave. By dating these speleothems, we can improve existing reconstructions of past ice sheets.
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
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The age of some geological materials can be estimated from the ratio of certain radiogenic "daughter" isotopes to their radioactive "parent". However, in many cases, the age estimation process is complicated by the presence of an inherited component of non-radiogenic daughter isotopes. This paper presents an improved algorithm to estimate the radiogenic and non-radiogenic components, either separately or jointly.
Julia Homann, Niklas Karbach, Stacy A. Carolin, Daniel H. James, David Hodell, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Ola Kwiecien, Mark Brenner, Carlos Peraza Lope, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Biogeosciences, 20, 3249–3260, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3249-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3249-2023, 2023
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Cave stalagmites contain substances that can be used to reconstruct past changes in local and regional environmental conditions. We used two classes of biomarkers (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and monosaccharide anhydrides) to detect the presence of fire and to also explore changes in fire regime (e.g. fire frequency, intensity, and fuel source). We tested our new method on a stalagmite from Mayapan, a large Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula.
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 summary
The U–Th–He method is a technique to determine the cooling history of minerals. Traditional approaches to U–Th–He dating are time-consuming and require handling strong acids and radioactive solutions. This paper presents an alternative approach in which samples are irradiated with protons and subsequently analysed by laser ablation mass spectrometry. Unlike previous in situ U–Th–He dating attempts, the new method does not require any absolute concentration measurements of U, Th, or He.
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
Short summary
We propose using the Wasserstein-2 distance (W2) as an alternative to the widely used Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) statistic for analysing distributional data in geochronology. W2 measures the horizontal distance between observations, while KS measures vertical differences in cumulative distributions. Using case studies, we find that W2 is preferable in scenarios where the absolute age differences in observations provide important geological information. W2 has been added to the R package IsoplotR.
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
Short summary
The Great Unconformity represents an enormous amount of time lost from the sedimentary record. Its origin is debated, in part, due to different approaches used to interpret zircon (U–Th)/He ages. This thermochronometric system is ideal for this problem because the temperature sensitivity varies according to radiation damage. Here we explore the uncertainty associated with the radiation damage model and show how this limits our ability to resolve the origin of the Great Unconformity.
Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 4, 561–576, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-561-2022, 2022
Short summary
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.
Cinthya Esther Nava Fernandez, Tobias Braun, Bethany Fox, Adam Hartland, Ola Kwiecien, Chelsea Pederson, Sebastian Hoepker, Stefano Bernasconi, Madalina Jaggi, John Hellstrom, Fernando Gázquez, Amanda French, Norbert Marwan, Adrian Immenhauser, and Sebastian Franz Martin Breitenbach
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-172, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-172, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a ca. 1000 year long (6.4–5.4 ka BP) stalagmite-based reconstruction of mid-Holocene rainfall variability in the tropical western Pacific. The annually laminated multi-proxy (δ13C, δ18O, X/Ca, gray values) record comes from Niue island and informs on El Nino-Southern Oscillation and South Pacific Convergence Zone dynamics. Our data suggest that ENSO was active and influenced rainfall seasonality over the covered time interval. Rainfall seasonality was subdued during active ENSO phases
Andrew J. Mason, Anton Vaks, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, John N. Hooker, and Gideon M. Henderson
Geochronology, 4, 33–54, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-33-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-33-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A novel technique for the uranium–lead dating of geologically young carbonates is described and tested. The technique expands our ability to date geological events such as fault movements and past climate records.
Yang Li and Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 3, 415–420, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-415-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-415-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Pieter Vermeesch
Geochronology, 3, 247–257, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-247-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-247-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper shows that the current practice of filtering discordant U–Pb data based on the relative difference between the 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/206Pb ages is just one of several possible approaches to the problem and demonstrably not the best one. An alternative approach is to define discordance in terms of isotopic composition, as a log ratio distance between the measurement and the concordia line. Application to real data indicates that this reduces the positive bias of filtered age spectra.
Inken Heidke, Adam Hartland, Denis Scholz, Andrew Pearson, John Hellstrom, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Biogeosciences, 18, 2289–2300, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2289-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2289-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed lignin oxidation products (LOPs) in leaf litter and different soil horizons as well as dripwater and flowstone samples from four different cave sites from different vegetation zones in New Zealand using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. We test whether the original source-dependent LOP signal of the overlying vegetation is preserved and can be recovered from flowstone samples and investigate how the signal is altered by the transport from the soil to the cave.
Perach Nuriel, Jörn-Frederik Wotzlaw, Maria Ovtcharova, Anton Vaks, Ciprian Stremtan, Martin Šala, Nick M. W. Roberts, and Andrew R. C. Kylander-Clark
Geochronology, 3, 35–47, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-35-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-35-2021, 2021
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This contribution presents a new reference material, ASH-15 flowstone with an age of 2.965 ± 0.011 Ma (95 % CI), to be used for in situ U–Pb dating of carbonate material. The new age analyses include the use of the EARTHTIME isotopic tracers and a large number of sub-samples (n = 37) with small aliquots (1–7 mg) each that are more representative of laser-ablation spot analysis. The new results could improve the propagated uncertainties on the final age with a minimal value of 0.4 %.
Laia Comas-Bru, Kira Rehfeld, Carla Roesch, Sahar Amirnezhad-Mozhdehi, Sandy P. Harrison, Kamolphat Atsawawaranunt, Syed Masood Ahmad, Yassine Ait Brahim, Andy Baker, Matthew Bosomworth, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Yuval Burstyn, Andrea Columbu, Michael Deininger, Attila Demény, Bronwyn Dixon, Jens Fohlmeister, István Gábor Hatvani, Jun Hu, Nikita Kaushal, Zoltán Kern, Inga Labuhn, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Andrew Lorrey, Belen Martrat, Valdir Felipe Novello, Jessica Oster, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Denis Scholz, Nick Scroxton, Nitesh Sinha, Brittany Marie Ward, Sophie Warken, Haiwei Zhang, and SISAL Working Group members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2579–2606, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2579-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2579-2020, 2020
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This paper presents an updated version of the SISAL (Speleothem Isotope Synthesis and Analysis) database. This new version contains isotopic data from 691 speleothem records from 294 cave sites and new age–depth models, including their uncertainties, for 512 speleothems.
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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.
U–Pb dating of cave sediments has provided important new time constraints on the evolution of...
