Technical note: Nikon–TRACK<i>Flow</i>, a new versatile microscope system for fission track analysis

Abstract

We present Nikon-TRACKFlow, a new system with dedicated modules for automated microscope control and imaging for the fission track laboratory. It serves as a Nikon alternative for the Zeiss-based TrackWorks package from Autoscan Systems. Nikon-TRACKFlow is based on the Nikon Eclipse Ni-E motorised upright microscope and is embedded within Nikon NIS-Elements software. The system decouples image acquisition from analysis to decrease schedule stress of the microscope based on a number of automated user-friendly designs and protocols: (1) the well plate design that allows sequential scanning of multiple samples without the need of replacing the slide on the stage; (2) two protocols that are designed for the external detector method and the LA-ICP-MS fission track approach with tools for repositioning and calibration of the external detector; and (3) two other tools that are designed for automated point selection and scanning of large crystals, such as the Durango age standard and U-doped glass external detectors. In future versions, Nikon-TRACKFlow aims to step away from the dedicated system for fission track imaging towards a general high-throughput imaging system for Earth Sciences and other material-oriented sciences.

Meso-Cenozoic thermo-tectonic evolution of the Yili block within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (NW China): Insights from apatite fission track thermochronology

“…Samples and inserted U-doped glasses (IRMM-540;De Corte et al, 1998) were irradiated with thermal neutrons in the BR1 reactor of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (Mol, Belgium), in Channel X26 (De Grave et al, 2010). The AFT analyses were carried out in Nikon NIS-Elements microscopy software on images acquired by the Nikon-TRACKFlow system (Van Ranst et al, 2020). We measured twenty crystals or a minimum of one thousand spontaneous tracks (s.e.…”

A re-evaluation of the Meso-Cenozoic thermo-tectonic evolution of Bogda Shan (Tian Shan, NW China) based on new basement and detrital apatite fission track thermochronology

“…Track densities were counted on a fully motorized Nikon Eclipse Ni-E microscope, equipped with a Nikon DS-Ri2 camera. The microscope and camera are linked to a computer with Nikon NIS Elements Advanced Research software, complemented with an in-house macroenabled Microsoft Excel sheet (TrackFlow β) (Van Ranst et al 2020). The obtained AFT ages are reported as conventional ζ-ages (Hurford 1990) with an overall weighted mean zeta of 310.0 ± 2.7 a.cm 2 (Analyst Z.…”

Differential Phanerozoic evolution of cratonic and non-cratonic lithosphere from a thermochronological perspective: São Francisco Craton and marginal orogens (Brazil)

“…All track lengths and the angles between the track and the crystallographic caxis were measured with the Nikon Eclipse Ni-E microscope with a DS-Ri2 camera attached at a 1000× magnification. The etch pit diameter parallel to the crystallographic c-axis (D par ) (Donelick et al, 1999) was measured (100-200 per sample) using a the D par module within Nikon NIS-Elements AR (Van Ranst et al, 2020b). Data from samples with a sufficient number of track lengths (> 50) were used as input in the QTQt software (Gallagher, 2012) to perform the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inverse modeling with 10 5 pre-and post-burn in iterations.…”