Introduction
ACE is a program designed to calculate landform ages using cosmogenic nuclide dating. It includes calibration and dating algorithms for 3He, 10Be, 14C, 21Ne, 26Al and 36Cl, but is designed to be flexible and extend to additional procedures and nuclides. ACE is designed for two main uses:
- to examine the sensitivity of computed ages to theoretical uncertainties,
- to function as a cosmogenic nuclide research development environment.
Downloading and Installing ACE
ACE is written in Python and will run on any modern operating system. To download and install ACE, follow the instructions here.
Calculating Sample Ages with ACE
ACE is not like other cosmogenic nuclide calculators (see ‘Links’ section on the side panel). It has been designed to examine the sensitivity of cosmogenic nuclide samples to experimental and theoretical uncertainties. To do this we separate the cosmogenic nuclide dating algorithm into samples and experiments. A sample can be thought of as a collection of data sufficient to yield an age, and an experiment can be thought of as a dating operation, which when applied to a sample calculates a sample age. This separation is not obvious, but allows for multiple experiments to operate on the same sample to test sample sensitivity. By making experiments ‘pre-calibrated’, consistency between HLSL production rates and experimental design is also preserved. However, initially this separation seems a little artificial, so we encourage new users to familiarize themselves with ACE by looking at the Quick Start Guide.
Online Help
For help and instructions regarding ACE, follow the Help links.
Obtaining and Importing Data
For instructions on importing your own datasets into ACE follow the instructions at the ‘ACE Formatted Data‘ link. An example of the process of importing user data is also given here.
Improving ACE
ACE was designed to popularize and encourage ongoing development in cosmogenic nuclide research. To do this we need feedback regarding ACE. This can be done by emailing us. Thanks!