Recommendations

Recommendations for Data Reporting in LA U-Th-Pb Geochronology

Notes on recommended reporting guidelines for laser ablation ICP-MS U-Th-Pb data.

To improve the confidence and rigour in the interpretation and peer-review of laser ablation ICP-MS U-Th-Pb data, the community requires a change to the way in which our data are reported. The tables accompanying this text illustrate example information suggested as a new format for the reporting of laser ablation ICP-MS U-Th-Pb data. These components of information are considered as essential to allow the competent review and assessment of laser ablation U-Th-Pb data and interpretations there-of, detailed in a manuscript submitted to a scientific journal.

It is hoped that journal editors and reviewers alike will help enforce a community consensus by requesting that these data and information are provided as a minimum requirement prior to peer review. It is anticipated that these tables will be stored on-line as supplementary information in order that they are accessible to the reader after publication and can easily be viewed as a guide to the key parameters/methodologies that were employed and the quality control data which validate the sample analyses. These quality control data should be submitted with the sample data with which they were run, to validate the sample results. It would be fully expected that as is usual, a section of text is included in any manuscript to more fully explain how the analyses were performed and the information in the information table provides a guideline to the minimum information required in this text. It is anticipated that the tables published in the manuscript might be a summary of this information and these data.

When performing specialist analysis applications (e.g. depth profiling, single-pulse determinations, long traverse sampling) other key information pertinent to the appropriate interrogation of the method and data (e.g. sample line length, ablation cell washout time) should also be provided.

The Network

Data reporting template - metadata

Data reporting template - analytical

Recommended guidelines for the propagation of uncertainties in laser ablation ICP-MS U-Th-Pb data

The link below details the results of group discussions held at the San Francisco 2009 workshop. A detailed analysis of uncertainty components, their nature and appropriate propagation was undertaken and a workflow established. This workflow is described in the accompanying text and is recommended as the current best-practice in uncertainty propagation for LA-ICP-MS U-Th-Pb data.

Recommended Uncertainty Propagation Protocol

Recommended Uncertainty Propagation workflow