Fission Track Dating of Phosphate Minerals and the Thermochronology of Apatite

Gleadow, Andrew; Belton, David; Kohn, Barry P.; Brown, R. W.

doi:10.2138/rmg.2002.48.16

Cited by 186 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 284 publications

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“…This makes the area an ideal place for testing the consistency of different methods. However, thermochronometric data, which are sensitive to near-surface deformational and erosional processes (e.g., Gleadow et al, 2002;Farley, 2002), remain unavailable in the area. The present study applies apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) dating to a group of bedrock samples from the Laojunshan felsic intrusions, ~25 km southwest of the first bend (Figs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Shen¹,

Tian

Li³

et al. 2016

Tectonophysics

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The southeastern Tibetan Plateau is deeply incised by three parallel rivers, the Salween, the Mekong and the Yangtze. The river incision and surface uplift histories of this landscape are hotly debated. This study presents bedrock apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He data from a ~1800m vertical profile, located near the first bend of the Yangtze River. Ages range from 20 to 30Ma, indicating an Oligocene -early Miocene phase of moderate river incision at a rate of 0.10-0.18 mm/yr. This is considerably older than elsewhere in the region, but consistent with a previously proposed phase of Eocene surface uplift inferred from stable isotope geochemistry. We consider the implications of the new data under two different tectonic models. If the surface uplift and river incision resulted from lower crustal flow, the new results require such flow to have commenced at Oligocene -Early Miocene time rather than during the previously proposed Late Miocene. Alternatively, Oligocene to Early Miocene plateau growth might have resulted from transpressional deformation in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Highlights:Oligocene -early Miocene river incision Diachronous onset of river incision in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau Oligocene to Early Miocene lower crustal flow or transpressional deformation

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Shen¹,

Tian

Li³

et al. 2016

Tectonophysics

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“…At elevated temperatures, these tracks shrink in size and fragment into sections until they are completely annealed [1]. Fission tracks are used for determining the age and thermal history of Earth's crust [2][3][4][5][6][7], and taken together with other techniques, to infer rates of tectonic uplift and landscape evolution [8]. The current fission-track dating technique utilizes chemical etching, which preferentially attacks the radiation-damaged volume in the undamaged bulk, to enlarge the nanometer sized latent tracks such that they can be easily observed by optical microscopy [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annealing kinetics of latent particle tracks in Durango apatite

Afra¹,

Lang²,

Rodríguez³

et al. 2011

Phys. Rev. B

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Using synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering we determine the 'latent' track morphology and their annealing kinetics in the Durango apatite. The latter, measured during ex situ and in situ annealing experiments, suggests structural relaxation followed by recrystallisation of the damaged material. The resolution of fractions of a nanometer with which the track radii are determined, as well as the non-destructive, artefact-free measurement methodology shown here, provides a new means for in-depth studies of ion-track formation in natural minerals under a wide variety of geological conditions.

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“…The suitability of apatites for use as waste hosts, has previously been investigated via fission-track thermochronometry 9 , which is widely used to measure processes occurring in the Earth's crust 10 . This approach compares the abundance of naturally-occurring radioactive isotopes and their decay products within a sample and measures the size and shape of fission tracks 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has shown that apatite minerals have sucessfully immobilised radionuclides over geological time-scales making them relevant to the long term disposal of high level nuclear waste with the longevity of these materials, even under the damaging effects of self-irradiation, indicating that synthetic analogues may make suitable waste hosts. In particular, The thermochronometry studies of Gleadow et al 9 clearly show the formation of radiation damage tracks within fluorapatite and describe the mechanism of track formation as being the combination of two coincident and brief processes: upon decomposition of an atomic nucleus, fission fragments with excess kinetic energy move in opposite directions and interact with the host lattice so that collisions between fission fragments and lattice ions lead to lattice damage. Weber et al 16 suggest that both the structure of the centre of these damage tracks and the lattice immediately surrounding them is little known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction and characterisation of radiation damage in fluorapatite

et al. 2015

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Molecular dynamics simulations, used in conjunction with a set of classical pair potentials, have been employed to examine simulated radiation damage cascades in the fluorapatite structure. Regions of damage have subsequently been assessed for their ability to recover and the effect that damage has on the important structural units defining the crystal structure, namely phosphate tetrahedra and calcium meta-prisms. Damage was considered by identifying how the phosphorous coordination environment changed during a collision cascade. This showed that PO 4 units are substantially retained, with only a very small number of under or over coordinated phosphate units being observed, even at peak radiation damage. By comparison the damaged region of the material showed a marked change in the topology of the phosphate polyhedra, which polymerised to form chains up to seven units in length. Significantly, the fluorine channels characteristic of the fluorapatite structure and defined by the structure's calcium meta-prisms stayed almost entirely intact throughout. This meant that the damaged region could be characterised as amorphous phosphate chains interlaced with regular features of the original undamaged apatite structure.

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Fission Track Dating of Phosphate Minerals and the Thermochronology of Apatite

Cited by 186 publications

References 284 publications

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Annealing kinetics of latent particle tracks in Durango apatite

Prediction and characterisation of radiation damage in fluorapatite

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