The Aktau succession is located at 44.03°N and 79.30°E in the Ili Basin, south-east Kazakhstan. The dataset contains measurement results from the Middle to early Late Miocene part of the succession (total height: 372 m, lowermost sample: 0.29 m, uppermost sample: 370.94 m). The laser ablation U-Pb data was aquired from thin sections in order to obtain radiometric ages of carbonates along the Aktau succession.

Spot size = 213 µm; depth of crater ~15µm. ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb error propagation (²⁰⁷Pb signal dependent) following Gerdes & Zeh (2009). Within run background-corrected mean ²⁰⁶Pb signal in cps (counts per second). U and Pb content and Th/U ratio were calculated relative to NIST614. percentage of the common Pb on the ²⁰⁶Pb.* corrected for background, within-run Pb/U fractionation (in case of ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U) and common Pb using Stacy and Kramers (1975) model Pb composition and subsequently normalised to GJ-1 (ID-TIMS value/measured value); ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U calculated using ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb/(²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb1/137.88)