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[1] We investigated some of the sampling and mineral separation biases that affect the accuracy of detrital zircon provenance studies. The study has been carried on a natural catchment in the Scottish Highlands that represents a simple two-component source system and on samples of synthetic sediment prepared for this study to test the effects of heavy mineral separation on the resulting zircon age spectra. The results suggest that zircon fertility of the source rocks and physical properties of zircon represent the most important factors affecting the distribution of zircon age populations in the stream sediments. The sample preparation and selection of zircons for analysis may result in preferential loss of information from small zircon grains. Together with the preference for larger crystals during handpicking, it can result in several-fold difference compared to the real age distribution in the sediment sample. These factors appear to be more important for the reproducibility of zircon age spectra than is the number of zircon grains analyzed per sample.

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) uranium-thorium-lead (U-Th-Pb) dating is an increasingly popular approach for determining the age of mineral grains and the timing of geological events. The spatial resolution offered by this technique allows detailed investigations of complex igneous and metamorphic processes, and the speed of data capture allows vast amounts of information to be gathered rapidly. Laser ablation U-Th-Pb dating is therefore becoming an increasingly influential technique to the geochronology community, providing cost-effective and ready access to age data for laboratories and end users worldwide. However, complications in acquiring, processing, and interpreting data can lead to inaccurate age information entering the literature. With the numbers of practitioners expanding rapidly, the need to standardize approaches and resolve difficulties (particularly involving the subjectivity in processing laser ablation U-Th-Pb data) is becoming important.