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Detrital zircon geochronology is rapidly developing into an essential tool in Earth science research because of the widespread occurrence of zircon in sedimentary systems; the wide range of information that can be extracted from zircon crystals; the ability to determine ages with reasonable precision, accuracy, and efficiency; and the wide range of new ideas about how to use detrital zircon geochronologic information. The U-Pb system is particularly powerful because three chronometers are available (²³⁸U→²⁰⁶Pb, ²³⁵U→²⁰⁷Pb, and ²³²Th→²⁰⁸Pb), but challenges arise because of complexities from inheritance and Pb loss. Ages can be used to constrain the age of deposition of the host sediment, reconstruct provenance, characterize a sedimentary unit, and characterize many different aspects of source regions. Detrital zircon geochronology has an exciting future given the growth history recorded in individual …