We studied changes in Earth's magnetic field between 170,000 and 270,000 years ago using beryllium data from Antarctic ice. Our results reveal three periods when the magnetic field weakened sharply, including one major event with a rapid fall and gradual recovery. These findings help explain how Earth's magnetic field behaves during short-term disturbances and improve the timing of past climate and geological records.

The OSLThermo and ESRThermo MATLAB libraries simulate how luminescence signals in feldspar and electron spin resonance signals in quartz minerals accumulate and fade over time, enabling reconstruction of recent rock cooling and surface temperature changes. By sharing these tools openly, we hope to promote collaboration, reproducibility, and broader use and development of these ultra-low-temperature thermochronology methods.

Geological processes like erosion, burial, and faulting can influence or perturb heat conditions in the Earth's crust through time, which can complicate our interpretation of the geological significance of rock cooling histories determined from thermochronology. This 1D modeling study quantifies and illustrates the expected relationships between various lithosphere-scale geological processes and resulting thermal histories and thermochronometer ages.

The Christiana Islands represents the oldest subaerial volcanism in the Christiana-Santorini-Kolombo volcanic field, but the exact age of this volcano has been unknown. This study reports new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of ten volcanic samples from Christiana Island that cluster between 2.5–2.7 Ma with small uncertainties (0.02–0.14 Ma). One sample dated much younger: 133 ka; this is most likely derived from the Middle Pumice Plinian eruption of Santorini.

We evaluate luminescence signal resetting in single-grain K-feldspar from modern fluvial analogues in Chile. Our results show that resetting efficiency is inversely related to the size of the natural luminescence signal. Additionally, high scatter in remaining natural signals at deposition challenges their use while dating old sedimentary deposits. We assess three correction methods for age calculation and explore various aspects relevant to luminescence-based sediment tracing applications.

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.

A novel approach, µ-paleotopometry, bridges gaps among tools used to quantify landscape evolution. It computes landscape change by using concentrations of isotopes produced by cosmic rays deep below the Earth's surface to gauge changes in crustal shielding above each sample. We provide a state of knowledge, strategies, and limitations of this potentially useful approach to study landscape evolution at timescales that are important to tectonic and climatic processes and nuclear waste management.

This study dated chrysocolla, a supergene copper mineral, from copper deposits hosted in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile, with ages between 8.4 and 0.046 million years. Results show that from the Late Miocene to the Pleistocene, short periods of moisture triggered mineral formation despite the hyperarid climate. These wetter periods were likely caused by occasional rainfall or stronger coastal fog, causing repeated pulses of supergene activity in the Coastal Cordillera.

Luminescence dating of feldspar minerals is widely applied in geology and archaeology. However, the luminescence of feldspar is prone to signal loss termed anomalous fading, which must be accounted for to avoid age underestimation. Here, we critically review the different mathematical approaches for anomalous fading correction, and present new, computationally efficient, analytical expressions for the two most ubiquitous fading correction schemes.

Collision of cosmic rays with the atmosphere produces rare atoms, including beryllium-10, which falls out in precipitation and binds to soils. Measurements on glacial deposits from the last ice age in Colorado, USA show that millions of beryllium-10 atoms fall on each square centimeter of land each year. The rate of delivery increases with elevation and precipitation, which allowed us to make maps of the beryllium-10 flux for an entire watershed that will be used to measure erosion rates.

To improve U-Th zircon dating, we developed a U–Th–Pb double-dating strategy for young zircon (150–300 ka). We found that the overall U-Th age spectrum is consistent whether assuming a constant melt composition or a constant U/Th fractionation between zircon and melt, but testing the representability of the measured glass with the youngest isochron intercept proved essential. A Bayesian model with a uniform prior distribution gave the most accurate estimates of eruption timing for U-Th datasets.

(U-Th-Sm)/He dating is a tool to investigate when and how rocks cooled through the upper Earth’s crust. We explore strategies to reconstruct thermal histories of individual apatite crystals by direct measurement of their helium concentration profile and radionuclide distribution. This approach allows for the inclusion of inhomogeneous grains in thermal modelling, which is often problematic in traditional (U-Th-Sm)/He methods.

Marine sediments contain valuable information about past climate changes. However, dating Pleistocene marine sediments can be difficult, and the accuracy of the age model depends on the quality of the stratigraphic alignment target. We introduce three targets – Atlantic, Pacific, and global – with three distinct chronologies for the global target that incorporate astronomical forcing constraints to various degrees. This suite of targets offers flexibility in age model construction.

We present an open-access Python package (GDTchron) designed to forward model apatite (U-Th)/He, apatite fission track, and zircon (U-Th)/He ages using temperatures output by geodynamic numerical models. The software can be used in a parallelized workflow to calculate large numbers of ages. We present two examples of potential applications of GDTchron: a simple model of an uplifting box with perfectly efficient erosion and a complex model of continental rifting followed by mountain building.

This study examines the feasibility of dating beach ridges associated with pluvial lake highstands in the Great Basin, USA, using rock surface luminescence dating techniques. Limestone and volcanic rock lithologies prominent in this region pose challenges, but preliminary measurements show promise. We show that ages derived from beach ridge gravel rocks record the timing of lake highstands as well as climatically-driven soil formation processes.

We developed a faster and simpler way to measure helium gas in rocks to determine how long they have been exposed at Earth's surface. Instead of separating minerals within the rocks by hand, our method uses heat to release gas from specific minerals. This reduces time, cost, and physical work, making it easier to collect large amounts of data when studying landscape change or when only small rock samples are available.

Chemical abrasion (CA) is a two step method for reducing Pb loss where zircon is annealed then partially dissolved. We use SIMS to find closed and open system zircon domains in zircon that has been CA, annealed only, or untreated. Raman mapping shows to identify lattice damage in SIMS spots. Atom Probe (APT) results from both the discordant spots and concordant ones are all homogenous and identical. Thus APT cannot distinguish discordant and concordant zircon.

Bayesian modelling is often used to refine numerically dated chronological sequences, e.g., by making use of stratigraphic constraints. First, a high-resolution dataset based on luminescence dating is modelled with the dedicated R package BayLum. Then, three Bayesian modelling tools – namely BayLum, Chronomodel and OxCal – are compared using a high-resolution, radiocarbon dataset. Modelling artefacts are identified; the strengths and weaknesses of the models are discussed.

This study, using ESR, OSL, and LA-ICPMS trace element analyses, reveals significant relationships between quartz OSL/ESR sensitivities and bedrock characteristics. Trace element compositions appear to influence the OSL and ESR-Ti sensitivities, the last being weak in quartz extracted from metamorphic or deformed rocks. Pressure may take a part in OSL/ESR-Ti sensitivities variability while ESR Al intensities could be linked to initial fluid composition and crystallization conditions

We show that portable X-ray fluorescence can be used to rapidly (c. 90 s) estimate the rate of background radioactivity in sediment used to calculate burial ages in trapped charge dating studies. This procedure involves inputting a measurement of potassium concentration into a set of simple linear equations, defined by a large, training dataset. Results show good agreement with high-precision methods. Our rapid method will help to quickly generate burial age estimates.

Ice sheet mass loss is adding to sea-level rise, and is expected to increase, but by how much and how fast remains uncertain. Isotopes produced in rock at the Earth’s surface provide records of past ice sheet thinning which help predict future change but are more effective if they are precise enough to determine past changes to the nearest thousand years. The precision of carbon-14, an isotope which is guaranteed to record past change since the last ice age, can be improved.

We present a set of six standardized time-temperature histories, which we call benchmark paths, that can be used by the low-temperature thermochronology community to evaluate and visualize the sensitivity of thermochronologic systems to the variables inherent in the interpretation of thermochronologic data. As an example, we present a method for “tuning” each benchmark path to eleven published kinetics models (for the apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He, apatite fission-track, and zircon (U-Th)/He systems).

We introduce a new statistical method for determining the time of "peak cooling" in thermochronological inversions. Specifically, we focus on the time-temperature paths that intersect the half-maximum cooling isotherm, signifying the zenith or most rapid cooling within a defined interval. The resultant interpolated time distribution provides a systematic metric, particularly applicable for evaluating model cooling characterized by relatively smooth histories featuring a single inflection point.

This note details a development of the (U-Th)/He method for dating apatite crystals in low-temperature thermochronology. Our innovation simplifies analysis protocols for gases (He) and crystals (U, Th, etc.), aiming to expedite data production and enhance study reliability.

Decay of U to Pb in the mineral baddeleyite is used for precisely dating mafic rocks, but some daughter Pb atoms can be ejected out of the crystal, resulting in an age that appears too young. Atom Probe Tomography was used to map the distribution of U and Pb atoms in 3 dimensions within a baddeleyite crystal and estimate the average distance that Pb atoms are displaced by decay of U. This allows us to correct the measured age on a baddeleyite crystal knowing its size and shape.

We investigate the relationship between damage trails from uranium fission in apatite and the etched tracks measured with an optical microscope. We aim to understand sampling biases and to improve etching, selection and measurement protocols. The track orientation and length, apatite and track etch rate, and effective etch time co-determine whether a track is suitable for measurement. Reliable data are attainable because the specific sample properties have but a limited effect on these factors.

As a result of increasing precision and accuracy in geochronology, interpreting complicated age spectra has become increasingly important, since individual mineral ages often do not directly date the actual geologic process of interest. Here we propose a method for estimating the age of eruption or deposition of a set of minerals dated by the U-Pb system which, in contrast to previous approaches, remains accurate even when the dated minerals have experienced loss of the daughter product Pb.

Volcanic ash layers are a common tool to synchronize records of past climate, and their estimated age relies on external dating methods. Here, we show that the chemical composition of the well-known, 12000 year-old Vedde Ash is indistinguishable with several other ash layers in Iceland that are ~1000 years younger. Therefore, chemical composition alone cannot be used to identify the Vedde Ash in sedimentary records.

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.

We proposed a new non-destructive mineralogical methodology on inframilimetric grains that allows to quantify the hematite and goethite content and hematite/goethite ratio of grains prior to (U-Th)/He geochronological analysis. (U-Th)/He data performed on different aliquots with different acquisition time shows no remarkable differences in age, opening a new way to investigate the (U-Th)/He data evolution in supergene lateritic duricrusts.

Paleomagnetic data from Cascade Lake (Brooks Range, Alaska) extend the radiometric-based age model of the sedimentary sequence extending back 21 kyr. Correlated ages based on prominent features in paleomagnetic secular variations (PSV) diverge from the radiometric ages in the upper 1.6 m, by up to about 2000 years at around 4 ka. Four late Holocene cryptotephra in this section support the PSV chronology and suggest the influence of hard water or aged organic material.

Prehistoric volcanic eruptions are often dated by wiggle matching series of radiocarbon ages on tree rings to standard calibration curves, ignoring potential contamination by 'old' carbon given off by the volcano. We modeled the effects of low amounts of contamination on wiggle match dates for the 10th century Changbaishan eruption and found evidence of contamination in all. We propose a new protocol to identify the presence of contamination, and provide more secure dates for major eruptions.

The timing and duration of fluid activity within a gold deposit enables a greater understanding of how the deposit evolved and thus help future mineral exploration. This research uses high resolution dating methods to unravel the overprinting fluid activity at the Martabe gold field in Sumatra. Methods outline in this report can be applied to deposits globally.

Potassium-based geochronology, including the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K-Ar methods, provides critical constraints on the timing and duration of many events and processes in earth history. These methods assume that a key parameter, the fraction of potassium with a mass of 40, does not vary in some relevant materials. Some recent work has identified some variability in these materials. This work examines the effects of this variability on calculated K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages.