Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology
Detrital zircon geochronology can help address stratigraphic- to lithospheric-scale geological questions. The approach is reliant on statistically robust, representative age distributions that fingerprint source areas. However, there is a range of biases that may influence any detrital age signature...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE190100176 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90953 |
| _version_ | 1848765470550786048 |
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| author | Dröllner, Maximilian Barham, Milo Kirkland, Christopher Ware, Bryant |
| author_facet | Dröllner, Maximilian Barham, Milo Kirkland, Christopher Ware, Bryant |
| author_sort | Dröllner, Maximilian |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Detrital zircon geochronology can help address stratigraphic- to lithospheric-scale geological questions. The approach is reliant on statistically robust, representative age distributions that fingerprint source areas. However, there is a range of biases that may influence any detrital age signature. Despite being a fundamental and controllable source of bias, handpicking of zircon grains has received surprisingly little attention. Here, we show statistically significant differences in age distributions between bulk-mounted and handpicked fractions from an unconsolidated heavy mineral sand deposit. Although there is no significant size difference between bulk-mounted and handpicked grains, there are significant differences in their aspect ratio, circularity and colour, which indicate inadvertent preferential visual selection of euhedral and coloured zircon grains. Grain colour comparisons between dated and bulk zircon fractions help quantify bias. Bulk-mounting is the preferred method to avoid human-induced selection bias in detrital zircon geochronology. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:46Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90953 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:46Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-909532023-05-08T02:48:18Z Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology Dröllner, Maximilian Barham, Milo Kirkland, Christopher Ware, Bryant Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Geology detrital zircon U– Pb geochronology sample preparation provenance reproducibility selection bias U-PB PROVENANCE AGE CONSTRAINTS WESTERN RECOGNITION INFORMATION FERTILITY EVOLUTION TERRANES Detrital zircon geochronology can help address stratigraphic- to lithospheric-scale geological questions. The approach is reliant on statistically robust, representative age distributions that fingerprint source areas. However, there is a range of biases that may influence any detrital age signature. Despite being a fundamental and controllable source of bias, handpicking of zircon grains has received surprisingly little attention. Here, we show statistically significant differences in age distributions between bulk-mounted and handpicked fractions from an unconsolidated heavy mineral sand deposit. Although there is no significant size difference between bulk-mounted and handpicked grains, there are significant differences in their aspect ratio, circularity and colour, which indicate inadvertent preferential visual selection of euhedral and coloured zircon grains. Grain colour comparisons between dated and bulk zircon fractions help quantify bias. Bulk-mounting is the preferred method to avoid human-induced selection bias in detrital zircon geochronology. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90953 10.1017/S0016756821000145 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE190100176 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Geology detrital zircon U– Pb geochronology sample preparation provenance reproducibility selection bias U-PB PROVENANCE AGE CONSTRAINTS WESTERN RECOGNITION INFORMATION FERTILITY EVOLUTION TERRANES Dröllner, Maximilian Barham, Milo Kirkland, Christopher Ware, Bryant Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title | Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title_full | Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title_fullStr | Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title_short | Every zircon deserves a date: Selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| title_sort | every zircon deserves a date: selection bias in detrital geochronology |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Geology detrital zircon U– Pb geochronology sample preparation provenance reproducibility selection bias U-PB PROVENANCE AGE CONSTRAINTS WESTERN RECOGNITION INFORMATION FERTILITY EVOLUTION TERRANES |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE190100176 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90953 |