A lead isotope method for the accurate dating of disturbed geologic systems: numerical demonstrations, some applications and implications

Lead isotopes are compared in two equivalent diagrams. With a range in U/Pb, a closed system that evolved its radiogenic Pb in a single stage yields data that define a line of exactly the same age in the two presentations. This strict reproducibility (within ± a few 10⁶ yr, at most) is the crux of the concept of Pb-isotope synchronism. In contrast, an open system produces data that disperse variably in the two diagrams, yielding ages which are often different by ?10⁷ yr. However, because an age-calculation reconciles uncertainty in the age with the degree of dispersion in the data, a highly disturbed system yields false ages (from both diagrams), which nevertheless overlap within the calculated errors.This dichotomy (tightly reproduced linearity of a closed system vs. loosely correlated dispersion of an open one) is exploited in a new procedure, termed differential Pb correlation. This procedure allows filtering the data, so that an imperfect isochron may be improved or an invisible one may be identified within a dispersion field.Applying the synchronism method to the whole rock Pb isotopic data on the Amîtsoq gneisses results in their resolution into three synchronous lines, yielding the single-stage ages of 4.42, 3.74 and 3.45 Ga. In an attempt to reconcile this observation with geology, the mechanisms which may have produced these lines (multi-stage lineation) are explored. In addition, the possibility that the 4.42-Ga line is an actual isochron, and that vestiges of an ancient terrestrial crust of that age exist, are contemplated in some detail.The utility of the method is further demonstrated by application to meteorites as well as terrestrial rocks. Isochrons of crustal rocks intersect with each other as subgroups in multiple places (that is, at multiple Pb isotope values). This indicates the apparent existence of terrestrial reservoirs distinct in isotopic composition from each other. One of these reservoirs, characterized by a low (U/²⁰⁴Pb) = 4 may represent a depleted complement to the U-enriched source(s) of the ocean-island basalt (OIB). If so, then the so-called “Pb paradox” may no longer exist.