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Encyclopedia of Geochemistry pp 1–5Cite as

Lead Isotopes

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Introduction

Isotopic ratios of Pb are key geochemical tracers for unraveling the compositional evolution of the solar system, the Earth, and the continental crust, and are an important geochronometer with many different applications.

Lead has of four naturally occurring stable isotopes, 204Pb (1.4 %), 206Pb (24.1 %), 207Pb (22.1 %), and 208Pb (52.10 %). 204Pb is non-radiogenic; the latter three are the final decay products of the three decay chains from uranium (238U and 235U) and thorium (232Th), where all the intermediate members of each series have relatively short half-lives and can be ignored on long geological timescales (tens millions of years). Some of the U decay series and 230Th decay present applications for shorter time periods (i.e., volcanic eruption, sedimentation at the bottom of the oceans, coral dating).

238U has a half-life comparable to the age of the Earth , i.e., 4.47 Ga, whereas 235U half-life is much shorter, 0.704 Ga, and as a result, almost all the original 235...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2020-2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T-1Z4, Canada

    Dominique Weis

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  1. Dominique Weis
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Correspondence to Dominique Weis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

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Weis, D. (2016). Lead Isotopes. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_293-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_293-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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