AgeDisplay: an EXCEL workbook to evaluate and display univariate geochronological data using binned frequency histograms and probability density distributions

Univariate diagrams such as binned frequency histograms and probability density distributions are often used for the initial assessment and communication of geochronological data. Both diagram types are estimates of the sample distribution and both have inherent limitations that are not widely appreciated. Binned frequency histograms are effective at conveying frequency information, but analytical error is discarded and appearance is vulnerable to bias due to arbitrary decisions about bin width. A method for assessing the efficiency of bin widths is presented. Probability density distributions use a variable Gaussian kernel method that accounts for analytical error of individual datum. While providing standardization of the display, these diagrams are limited by the lack of visually accessible frequency information. An approach combining elements of both histograms and probability density distributions is proposed. All methods are applied in an Excel workbook and the procedures for using this are explained.

[1]  Robert C. Roback,et al.  Provenance, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronometry, and tectonic significance of Permian to Lower Triassic sandstone in southeastern Quesnellia, British Columbia and Washington , 1995 .

[2]  D. W. Scott,et al.  Multivariate Density Estimation, Theory, Practice and Visualization , 1992 .

[3]  Randall R. Parrish,et al.  Provenance and U-Pb geochronology of the Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup (northwestern United States): implications for age of deposition and pre-Panthalassa plate reconstructions , 1992 .

[4]  Allan R. Chivas,et al.  The use of protolith zircon-age fingerprints in determining the protosource areas for some Australian dune sands , 1997 .

[5]  Michael McWilliams,et al.  Detrital zircon provenance analysis of the Great Valley Group, California: Evolution of an arc-forearc system , 2002 .

[6]  C. Pelto,et al.  Mapping of Multicomponent Systems , 1954, The Journal of Geology.

[7]  K. Sircombe.  The usefulness and limitations of binned frequency histograms and probability density distributions for displaying absolute age data , 2000 .

[8]  Richard A. Stern,et al.  An investigation of artificial biasing in detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology due to magnetic separation in sample preparation , 2002 .

[9]  Herbert A. Sturges,et al.  The Choice of a Class Interval , 1926 .

[10]  Randall R. Parrish,et al.  Provenance of the Bonner Formation (Belt Supergroup), Montana: Insights from U-Pb and Sm-Nd analyses of detrital minerals , 1991 .

[11]  Elmar K. Jessberger,et al.  40Ar39Ar ages of Allende , 1980 .

[12]  K Sircombe.  The usefulness and limitations of binned frequency histograms and probability density distributions for displaying absolute age data; Radiogenic age and isotopic studies: Report 13 , 2000 .

[13]  David P. Doane,et al.  Aesthetic Frequency Classifications , 1976 .

[14]  R. Rainbird,et al.  Pan-Continental River System Draining Grenville Orogen Recorded by U-Pb and Sm-Nd Geochronology of Neoproterozoic Quartzarenites and Mudrocks, Northwestern Canada , 1997, The Journal of Geology.

[15]  Kathy R. Bruner,et al.  Numerical Analysis of Sandstone Composition, Provenance, and Paleogeography , 1999 .

[16]  Gilles Gauthier,et al.  Comparison of TIMS (U-Pb) and laser ablation microprobe ICP-MS (Pb) techniques for age determination of detrital zircons from Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks from northeastern Laurentia, Canada, with tectonic implications , 1996 .

[17]  Donald W. Davis,et al.  UPb age constraints on deposition and provenance of Birimian and gold-bearing Tarkwaian sediments in Ghana, West Africa , 1994 .

[18]  Andrew C. Morton,et al.  SHRIMP constraints on sediment provenance and transport history in the Mesozoic Statfjord Formation, North Sea , 1996, Journal of the Geological Society.

[19]  J. F. Wilson,et al.  A search for ancient detrital zircons in Zimbabwean sediments , 1988, Journal of the Geological Society.

[20]  L. P. Black,et al.  A revised Archaean chronology for the Napier Complex, Enderby Land, from SHRIMP ion-microprobe studies , 1997, Antarctic Science.

[21]  Keith N Sircombe,et al.  Tracing provenance through the isotope ages of littoral and sedimentary detrital zircon, eastern Australia , 1999 .

[22]  Paul F. Carr,et al.  Proterozoic‐Cambrian detrital zircon and monazite ages from the Anakie Inlier, central Queensland: Grenville and Pacific‐Gondwana signatures , 2001 .

[23]  D. W. Scott.  On optimal and data based histograms , 1979 .

[24]  C. D. Kemp,et al.  Density Estimation for Statistics and Data Analysis , 1987 .

[25]  Jeffrey S. Simonoff,et al.  Measuring the stability of histogram appearance when the anchor position is changed , 1997 .

[26]  M. Wand.  Data-Based Choice of Histogram Bin Width , 1997 .

[27]  A. Nutman,et al.  On the scarcity of \ 3900 Ma detrital zircons in )3500 Ma metasediments , 2001 .

[28]  William R. Dickinson,et al.  Detrital zircon provenance of Cambrian to Triassic miogeoclinal and eugeoclinal strata in Nevada , 1995 .

[29]  C. E. SHANNON,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[30]  Malcolm Sambridge,et al.  Mixture modeling of multi-component data sets with application to ion-probe zircon ages , 1994 .

[31]  Richard A. Stern,et al.  Detrital zircon geochronology and grain-size analysis of a ∼2800 Ma Mesoarchean proto-cratonic cover succession, Slave Province, Canada , 2001 .