280145 VO+UE Introduction to Geochronology (2005W)

The course gives an introduction to the theories, concepts, and methods of absolute rock and mineral dating in the Earth Sciences. Most of the methods applied today are based on the decay of a radioactive isotope into a stable daughter isotope. Such systems are for instance rubidium-strontium, samarium-neodynium, uranium-thorium-lead, rhenium-osmium, lutetium-hafnium, argon-argon, and fission track dating are discussed in detail using examples mainly from the Alps and the European Variscides. As not only the absolute ages are of interest, special emphasis is also put on discussing the duration and rates of metamorphic and magmatic events. The course is complemented by practical work and demonstration of separation and chemistry procedures, and isotope ratio thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (IR-TIMS).