Fractal geochronology — dating of the past, planning for the future

Dates for regional-scale geological events are typically determined by analysis of radioactive decay processes within micron-scale closed systems, demonstrating that geochronology information is “fractal” — that is, largely independent of the scale of magnification. This has important implications for the way geochronology data should be stored, retrieved and processed in order to maximize extraction of useful geological information.