Development of geochronology in Victoria

Abstract

Quantitative geochronology in Victoria began over 50 years ago with the setting up of a Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the Museum of Applied Science in Melbourne. Although this embryonic laboratory struggled throughout its life, and was eventually closed in 1970, it was followed by a new and much stronger phase centred on the development of fission-track dating initially at the University of Melbourne and Rb–Sr dating at La Trobe University. The most recent phase, since about 1990, has involved extensive collaboration between the universities in Melbourne and the joint development of a breadth of additional geochronological facilities and methods, mostly centred on noble-gas mass spectrometry, TIMS and, most recently, multi-collector ICP-MS. Today, geochronology in Victoria based on this extensive arsenal is applied to an ever-widening range of applications across the geological sciences.

Key Words:

• geochronology
• isotopes
• mass spectrometry
• thermochronology
• Victoria

Acknowledgements

Many helpful discussions have been held with numerous past and present members of the Victorian geochronology community in preparing this paper. We are particularly indebted to Dave Foster, Janet Hergt, Barry Kohn, Roland Maas, Dave Phillips, Bert Roberts, Terry Ryan and Jon Woodhead for their assistance and comments on the draft manuscript. We are grateful to all of those friends, colleagues and students with whom it has been our pleasure to work and who have made dating the earth such a fascinating and fertile field over these past decades.