Geochronology

Journal Title：Geochronology

Geochronology is a science that studies the time frame of Earth's history, reconstructing the geological history of the Earth by determining the ages of rocks, minerals, and fossils. This discipline is crucial for understanding the evolution of the Earth, the evolution of living organisms, and environmental changes. Geochronology not only helps scientists determine the relative age of geological strata, but also provides absolute age determination, thus providing accurate time scales for the Earth's past. Geological chronology is mainly divided into two categories: relative chronology and absolute chronology. Relative chronology infers the relative age of strata through the stacking relationships of strata and the distribution patterns of fossils. For example, if one stratum covers another stratum, the underlying stratum is usually considered older. Absolute chronology, on the other hand, determines the exact age of rocks or minerals through the decay patterns of radioactive isotopes. The most commonly used radiometric dating methods include uranium lead dating, potassium argon dating, and carbon-14 dating.

In the development process of geochronology, some important time units have been defined, such as the era, epoch, epoch, period, etc., which constitute the geological time scale. This time scale is internationally recognized and helps scientists to discuss and compare geological events on a global scale in a unified manner. For example, the Phanerozoic was a period of great biological explosion in Earth's history, including the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. The application of geochronology is very extensive, not only for basic scientific research, but also for important fields such as resource exploration, environmental assessment, and disaster prevention. For example, by understanding the age of geological strata, geologists can predict the distribution of certain mineral resources or assess the risk of geological hazards.

《地質(zhì)年代學》是一門研究地球歷史時間框架的科學，它通過測定巖石、礦物和化石的年齡來重建地球的地質(zhì)歷史。這門學科對于理解地球的演變過程、生物的進化以及環(huán)境變化至關(guān)重要。地質(zhì)年代學不僅幫助科學家們確定地層的相對年齡，還能夠提供絕對年齡的測定，從而為地球的過去提供精確的時間尺度。地質(zhì)年代學主要分為相對年代學和絕對年代學兩大類。相對年代學通過地層的疊置關(guān)系、化石的分布規(guī)律等來推斷地層的相對年齡。例如，如果一個地層覆蓋在另一個地層之上，那么下面的地層通常被認為更古老。而絕對年代學則通過放射性同位素的衰變規(guī)律來測定巖石或礦物的確切年齡。最常用的放射性定年方法包括鈾-鉛定年、鉀-氬定年和碳-14定年等。

地質(zhì)年代學的發(fā)展歷程中，一些重要的時間單位被定義，如宙、代、紀、世、期等，它們構(gòu)成了地質(zhì)時間尺度。這個時間尺度是國際上公認的，它幫助科學家們在全球范圍內(nèi)統(tǒng)一地討論和比較地質(zhì)事件。例如，顯生宙是地球歷史上生物大爆發(fā)的時期，包括古生代、中生代和新生代三個代。地質(zhì)年代學的應用非常廣泛，它不僅用于基礎科學研究，還對資源勘探、環(huán)境評估和災害預防等領(lǐng)域有著重要的意義。例如，通過了解地層的年齡，地質(zhì)學家可以預測某些礦產(chǎn)資源的分布，或者評估地質(zhì)災害的風險。

Geochronology由Copernicus Publications出版商出版，收稿方向涵蓋Earth and Planetary Sciences - Paleontology全領(lǐng)域，平均審稿速度 19 Weeks ，影響因子指數(shù)2.7，該期刊近期沒有被列入國際期刊預警名單，廣大學者值得一試。