A test of the isochron burial dating method on fluvial gravels within the Pulu volcanic sequence, West Kunlun Mountains, China

• Isochron burial dating matches 40Ar-39Ar on interbedded gravel and volcanics.
• Assumptions and physical constants used in isochron burial dating are valid.
• The production rate ratio of cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be is near 6.8.

Isochron burial dating with cosmogenic nuclides is used in Quaternary geochronology for dating sediments in caves, terraces, basins, and other depositional environments. However, the method has seldom been rigorously tested against an independent chronology. Here, we report a direct comparison of isochron burial dating with K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar bracketing ages on volcanic flows that sandwich a fluvial gravel layer in the Xinjiang province of northwestern China. The ages agree to within analytical uncertainty, validating the assumptions and physical constants used in the isochron burial dating method.