Combining high-spatial resolution and high-precision geochronology and geochemistry of zircon provides constraints on the timing and duration of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism resulting from the collision of Baltica-Avalonia and Laurentia during the Scandian orogeny in the Western Gneiss Region of Norway. Zircons were extracted from a layered eclogite in the Saltaneset region (southern UHP domain) and from an eclogite in the Ulsteinvik region (central UHP domain). Zircons were first analyzed for U-Pb and trace element compositions by laser ablation split-stream (LASS) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), followed by analysis of those same zircons that yielded Scandian dates by integrated U-Pb isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry and Trace Element Analysis (TIMS-TEA). LASS results from a garnet-quartz layer within the Saltaneset eclogite give Scandian dates of ca. 413-397 Ma, with subsequent ID-TIMS analyses ranging from 408.9  0.4 Ma to 401.4  0.2 Ma (2σ). An omphacite-rich layer from the same eclogite yields LASS dates of ca. 414-398 Ma and a single ID-TIMS date of 396.7  1.4 Ma. In comparison, the Ulsteinvik eclogite LASS results give dates spanning ca. 413-397 Ma, whereas ID-TIMS analyses range from 409.6  0.6 Ma to 401.3  0.4 Ma. ID-TIMS zircon data from the eclogites reveals two age populations: 1) ca. 409-407 Ma and 2) ca. 402 Ma. Both in situ and solution trace element data show a distinct pattern for Scandian zircons, with strongly-depleted HREE and weakly-negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*), whereas inherited zircon REE patterns are distinguished by steep HREE slopes and marked negative Eu/Eu*. When coupled with partition coefficients calculated for zircon and garnet, these REE patterns indicate that zircon (re)crystallized during eclogite-facies metamorphism at ca. 409-407 Ma and ca. 402 Ma at two widely separated UHP localities.

Domal structures within the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of eastern Papua New Guinea expose ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) Pliocene (5.6-4.6 Ma) eclogites and evidence for partial melting. To better interpret the (U)HP exhumation history, U-Pb geochronology and trace-element abundances were determined in zircon from variably deformed host gneiss and crystallized melt (leucosomes, sills, dikes, and plutons) from the Goodenough and Normanby Domes by ID-TIMS (isotope-dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry) and ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), respectively, to constrain the timing of melt crystallization and deformation relative to UHP metamorphism. Zircons extracted from orthogneiss and deformed granodiorite sills of Normanby Dome, located 40 km southeast of the UHP eclogite, record HP metamorphism from 5.66 6 0.02 to 5.04 6 0.07 Ma, and melt crystallization at 4.1 Ma. Strongly deformed, layer-parallel leucosomes from Goodenough Dome, 20 km northwest of the UHP eclogite, began to crystallize by 3.85 6 0.02 Ma. These dates indicate that melt crystallization began in the Goodenough and Normanby Domes within 0.75 m.y. of (U)HP metamorphism. The ID-TIMS dates from the orthogneiss and crystallized melt show that exhumation and cooling of the (U)HP rocks in the PNG terrane began first in the east, within Normanby Dome, then to the west, in the Goodenough Dome 1 m.y. later, and finally the middle dome rocks, exposed within the Mailolo Dome, cooled 2 m.y. after exhumation of Normanby Dome. All domes reveal synchronous crystallization of late, nondeformed melts, and final extension-driven exhumation by 1.82 6 0.03 Ma.

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We present multitechnique U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopic data from zircon separated from rapakivi biotite granite within the Eocene Golden Horn batholith in Washington, USA. A weighted mean of twenty-five Th-corrected 206 Pb/ 238 U zircon dates produced at two independent laboratories using chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) is 48.106 ± 0.023 Ma (2s analytical including tracer uncertainties, MSWD = 1.53) and is our recommended date for GHR1 zircon. Microbeam 206 Pb/ 238 U dates from laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) laboratories are reproducible and in agreement with the CA-ID-TIMS date to within < 1.5%. Solution multi-collector ICP-MS (MC-ICP-MS) measurements of Hf isotopes from chemically purified aliquots of GHR1 yield a mean 176 Hf/ 177 Hf of 0.283050 ± 17 (2s, n = 10), corresponding to a eHf 0 of +9.3. Hafnium isotopic measurements from two LA-ICP-MS laboratories are in agreement with the solution MC-ICP-MS value. The reproducibility of 206 Pb/ 238 U and 176 Hf/ 177 Hf ratios from GHR1 zircon across a variety of measurement techniques demonstrates their homogeneity in most grains. Additionally, the effectively limitless reserves of GHR1 material from an accessible exposure suggest that GHR1 can provide a useful reference material for U-Pb geochronology of Cenozoic zircon and Hf isotopic measurements of zircon with radiogenic 176 Hf/ 177 Hf.

The timing and processes of ductile deformation and metasomatism can be documented using apatite petrochronology. We integrated microstructural, U-Pb, and geochemical analyses of apatite grains from an exhumed mylonitic shear zone in the St. Barthélémy Massif, Pyrenees, France, to understand how deformation and metasomatism are recorded by U-Pb dates and geochemical patterns. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses documents crystal plastic deformation characterized by low-angle boundaries (&lt;5°) associated with dislocation creep and evidence of multiple slip systems. Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb maps indicate that dates in deformed grains reflect, and are governed by, low-angle dislocation boundaries. Apatite rare earth element (REE) and U-Pb behavior is decoupled in high-grade gneiss samples, suggesting REEs record higher-temperature processes than U-Pb isotopic systems. Apatite from (ultra)mylonitic portions of the shear zone showed evidence of metasomatism, and the youngest dates constrain the age of metasomatism. Collectively, these results demonstrate that crystal plastic microstructures and fluid interactions can markedly change apatite isotopic signatures, making single-grain apatite petrochronology a powerful tool for dating and characterizing the latest major deformation and/or fluid events, which are often not captured by higher-temperature chronometers.