Introduction to Geochronology

Overview

Multidisciplinary geochronologic methods not only cover the fundamental need of determining the age of rock formation but also provide time constraints on a range of geological processes, such as emplacement of plutons, volcanism, regional metamorphism, activities of brittle and ductile faults, basin thermal history and fluid activities, sediment provenance and delivery, and exhumation and preservation of mineral deposits. This course cover basics in geochronology and thermochronology, including:

• Introduction and fundamentals of radioactive decay
• Various dating methods such as U/Pb, Rb/Sr, Sm/Nd, Ar/Ar, fission-track, and U-Th/He
• Summary and case studies

What you will learn

At the conclusion of this course, participants would be able to:

• Understand fundamental principles of commonly used geo-dating methods
• Interpret and re-interpret geochronologic data in the literature or reports
• Apply appropriate geochronologic methods in new projects based on project needs, access to samples, and required project timelines

Target audience

This course requires no experience in geochronology.

Mining and exploration geoscientists at all levels. Interested parties with basic geological knowledge from other mining-related professions. No experience in geochronology is required.