Maximum depositional age estimation revisited

Pieter Vermeesch

Pieter Vermeesch. Maximum depositional age estimation revisited[J]. 地学前缘, 2021, 12(2): 843-850. DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2020.08.008
引用本文: Pieter Vermeesch. Maximum depositional age estimation revisited[J]. 地学前缘, 2021, 12(2): 843-850. DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2020.08.008
Pieter Vermeesch. Maximum depositional age estimation revisited[J]. Geoscience Frontiers, 2021, 12(2): 843-850. DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2020.08.008
Citation: Pieter Vermeesch. Maximum depositional age estimation revisited[J]. Geoscience Frontiers, 2021, 12(2): 843-850. DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2020.08.008

Maximum depositional age estimation revisited

基金项目: 

P.V. would like to thank George Gehrels, Peter Copeland and Daniel Coutts for constructive reviews that significantly improved the paper. This research was supported by NERC standard grant #NE/T001518/1 (‘Beyond Isoplot’).

详细信息
    通讯作者:

    Pieter Vermeesch,E-mail:p.vermeesch@ucl.ac.uk

Maximum depositional age estimation revisited

Funds: 

P.V. would like to thank George Gehrels, Peter Copeland and Daniel Coutts for constructive reviews that significantly improved the paper. This research was supported by NERC standard grant #NE/T001518/1 (‘Beyond Isoplot’).

  • 摘要: In a recent review published in this journal, Coutts et al. (2019) compared nine different ways to estimate the maximum depositional age (MDA) of siliclastic rocks by means of detrital geochronology. Their results show that among these methods three are positively and six negatively biased. This paper investigates the cause of these biases and proposes a solution to it. A simple toy example shows that it is theoretically impossible for the reviewed methods to find the correct depositional age in even a best case scenario: the MDA estimates drift to ever smaller values with increasing sample size. The issue can be solved using a maximum likelihood model that was originally developed for fission track thermochronology by Galbraith and Laslett (1993). This approach parameterises the MDA estimation problem with a binary mixture of discrete and continuous distributions. The ‘Maximum Likelihood Age’ (MLA) algorithm converges to a unique MDA value, unlike the ad hoc methods reviewed by Coutts et al. (2019). It successfully recovers the depositional age for the toy example, and produces sensible results for realistic distributions. This is illustrated with an application to a published dataset of 13 sandstone samples that were analysed by both LA-ICPMS and CA-TIMS U-Pb geochronology. The ad hoc algorithms produce unrealistic MDA estimates that are systematically younger for the LA-ICPMS data than for the CA-TIMS data. The MLA algorithm does not suffer from this negative bias. The MLA method is a purely statistical approach to MDA estimation. Like the ad hoc methods, it does not readily accommodate geological complications such as post-depositional Pb-loss, or analytical issues causing erroneously young outliers. The best approach in such complex cases is to re-analyse the youngest grains using more accurate dating techniques. The results of the MLA method are best visualised on radial plots. Both the model and the plots have applications outside detrital geochronology, for example to determine volcanic eruption ages.
    Abstract: In a recent review published in this journal, Coutts et al. (2019) compared nine different ways to estimate the maximum depositional age (MDA) of siliclastic rocks by means of detrital geochronology. Their results show that among these methods three are positively and six negatively biased. This paper investigates the cause of these biases and proposes a solution to it. A simple toy example shows that it is theoretically impossible for the reviewed methods to find the correct depositional age in even a best case scenario: the MDA estimates drift to ever smaller values with increasing sample size. The issue can be solved using a maximum likelihood model that was originally developed for fission track thermochronology by Galbraith and Laslett (1993). This approach parameterises the MDA estimation problem with a binary mixture of discrete and continuous distributions. The ‘Maximum Likelihood Age’ (MLA) algorithm converges to a unique MDA value, unlike the ad hoc methods reviewed by Coutts et al. (2019). It successfully recovers the depositional age for the toy example, and produces sensible results for realistic distributions. This is illustrated with an application to a published dataset of 13 sandstone samples that were analysed by both LA-ICPMS and CA-TIMS U-Pb geochronology. The ad hoc algorithms produce unrealistic MDA estimates that are systematically younger for the LA-ICPMS data than for the CA-TIMS data. The MLA algorithm does not suffer from this negative bias. The MLA method is a purely statistical approach to MDA estimation. Like the ad hoc methods, it does not readily accommodate geological complications such as post-depositional Pb-loss, or analytical issues causing erroneously young outliers. The best approach in such complex cases is to re-analyse the youngest grains using more accurate dating techniques. The results of the MLA method are best visualised on radial plots. Both the model and the plots have applications outside detrital geochronology, for example to determine volcanic eruption ages.
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出版历程
  • 收稿日期:  2020-06-08
  • 修回日期:  2020-08-19
  • 网络出版日期:  2021-03-08
  • 发布日期:  2021-03-08

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