This note is to address some questions we’ve recently received about the Pb concentration calculation in iolite, and in particular why when measuring the Pb concentration in zircons you get very different concentrations for each of the Pb channels.

Masks have been part of iolite since the early days, but we still regularly get questions about them. In this note, we will take a look at what a mask is and why you might want to use one, the ways you can make one, and what it looks like when things go right (and wrong).

A common question we are asked about U-Pb geochronology in iolite is: “Why is the mean age calculated by iolite different to the age calculated from the mean ratio?

We recognise that everyone is going through a lot of adaptation at the moment, and many people do not have access to their labs or other department services.

The recording of the U-Pb webinar can be found here. Click here to discuss.