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Welcome to the PlasmAge website, the home of the LA-ICP-MS U-(Th-)Pb Network.

This website is dedicated to the memory of Jan Kosler who died suddenly on the 4th May 2014. Jan was a great friend to us all and his vitality, geniality and friendship are sorely missed but will live on through the continued collaboration of the LA U-Th-Pb community.As one of the founders and key co-ordinators of the Network, Jan put this website together (with Jiri Slama, the webmaster) and we hope it serves the community well. Rest peacefully Jan. We will not forget.

This Network represents researchers from the LA-ICP-MS community, but also from the SIMS and TIMS communities, striving to achieve the best possible results in LA-ICP-MS U-(Th-)Pb geochronology and define best practice in the acquisition, handling, reporting and interpretation of LA-ICP-MS U-(Th-)Pb data. This ‘co-ordinated collaboration for community need’ has been on-going since 2006 and integrates with the EARTHTIME and EarthChem initiatives to take advantage of mutually beneficial outcomes, in particular comparability of geochronology results determined by different methods. The Network (formerly the Working Group on LA-ICP-MS U-(Th-)Pb Geochronology) was established to highlight and improve key aspects of our practices and we are recognised as a Special Interest Group of the International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG). Our role, goals and objectives are defined and contacts for the co-ordinators are available in the relevant section of the website. Please feel free to e-mail a co-ordinator with any comments or offers to become involved.

The Network has run a number of workshops so far to gather input from the community on the salient issues and define new ways forward in improving our analytical capability and rigour and ultimately our geochronological science. Information on these workshops and the recommendations and new developments that have resulted, can be found in these pages as well as news items on upcoming events.

We hope you find these pages a useful resource, and will support this community effort through active participation in planned activities. We will be happy to receive any comments and suggestions you would like to make that would improve the site and direct the efforts of the community towards its goals.

Very best regards

LA-ICP-MS U-Th-Pb Network co-ordinators

‘co-ordinated collaboration for community need’