Users can explore specific areas using the USGS Geochron Database Explorer web application. The database includes nine methods, 107,428 entries, 21,842 samples, and 1,614 citations. The data set contains published ages, analytical information, sample metadata including location, and source citations. This information, generated and funded by the USGS, will be updated and expanded regularly. 

Geochronologic data are integral to geologic mapping and provide the age of rocks, fossils and sediments using signatures inherent in the rocks themselves. Researchers, stakeholders, and the science-interested public use the data to study the Earth’s lithosphere and landscapes and to manage resources and natural hazards.  

To address these questions, scientists at the USGS and state geological surveys have generated a significant amount of geochronologic data spanning analytical techniques from Quaternary methods to long-lived isotopic systems. The included methods will continue to grow and reflect the diversity of USGS analytical labs and projects. 

There are currently three ways to access and download the current data which can all be accessed through usgs.gov/geochron: 

1. Database explorer: interactive web experience with point-and-click access to geochronology information, as well as the ability to download data files for selected areas.  

2. Database downloader: map-based downloader with ability to download data from selected areas. 

3. Data release: contains all data in .csv files, with metadata and data dictionary files. The explorer and downloader both access data release files.   

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