Alpha-recoil tracks (ART) are lattice defects caused by the a-decay of 238 U, 235 U, 232 Th, and daughter products. Visualization of etched ARTs in dark mica by phase-contrast microscopy allows dating of Quaternary geological as well as archaeological materials. Visualization of etched ARTs by Nomarski-differential-interference-contrast mi-croscopy (NDICM) and scanning force microscopy (SFM) enables the access to areal densities (q a) of ART etch pits beyond 10 4 mm À2 and thus the extension of the new ART-dating technique to an age range >1 Ma. The successful application of SFM as a new tool in geochronology could open the way to a field to be characterized as nanogeo-chronology. In order to visualize ARTs by NDICM and SFM, dark mica was etched with 4% HF at 21 °C for 5–107 min. A linear relationship between q a and etching time (t e) was observed for phlogopites from the Kerguelen Islands (French territory, Indian Ocean), and the Kovdor magmatic complex (Russia). The volume density (q v) of ART is a function of etching speed (v eff) and slope of the q a -growth curve. The ART-age equation allows the calculation of an individual q v -growth curve for the phlogopite analysed by us using the uranium and thorium content. The ART-ages were determined by combining the experimentally obtained volume density with the individual q v -growth curve.