Phrase guide

Tera–Wasserburg diagram

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of concordia diagram, used in the context of uranium–lead dating, whose axes are the ratios 207Pb/206Pb and 238U/206Pb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

Examples

  • The axes of the Tera–Wasserburg diagram are the amounts of ^{207}Pb (a stable, radiogenic isotope unconnected with uranium series decay) and ^{238}U (the start of the uranium series decay chain), each adjusted and expressed as ratio to the amount of ^{206}Pb (the stable end product of the uranium series).
  • One feature of the Tera–Wasserburg diagram is that for samples whose original lead content was both high and of unknown isotopic composition, the plotted points may lie on an isochron whose intersection with the ^{207}Pb/^{206}Pb axis gives the original lead composition and whose intersection with the concordia curve yields the age.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Named after geologists Fouad Tera and G. J. Wasserburg. From circa 1972.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Tera-Wasserburg-Diagramm — type of concordia diagram