The Utah Geochronology Database contains ages and related dating information of sampled geologic materials (soil and rock) using argon (40Ar/39Ar), fission track, optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL), radiocarbon (14C), rhubidium/strontium, or uranium/thorium/lead dating methods and were analyzed for a variety of geologic-related projects by the UGS and others. These ages were used in fault trench investigations to determine the timing of past earthquakes and to develop other paleoseismic parameters, in the dating of basalt flows for eruption histories and in dating fault movement, and similar projects.

Since geochronologic methods have significantly evolved and improved through time, older data is often not as reliable or usable as more recently dated materials. The user should use caution in using this data, as significant knowledge and experience is often needed to interpret and apply geochronologic data to projects correctly.

As the database is expanded in the future, age results from other geochronologic dating methods are anticipated to be added. Various geochronologic data from geologic mapping projects may be found here. Donations of geochronologic data in Utah are appreciated, so that these data can be permanently archived and discoverable and available to all users. Contact the UGS for more details.

The GeochronArgon feature class contains metadata specific to each argon sample in the database. Not all fields will contain data, due to the lack of available information, or the field may not apply to the specific sample.