Geochronology Facilities

Geochronological applications include U-Pb dating of uranium-bearing accessory minerals (zircon, monazite, titanite, apatite and rutile) by laser ablation. U-Pb zircon, apatite and rutile standard data from typical analytical sessions on the iCAP Qs are displayed below.

U-Pb zircon data for the Temora (416.75 ± 0.24 Ma) and Plešovice (337.13 ± 0.37 Ma) standards. 91500 zircon is used as the primary standard.

U-Pb rutile data (Tera-Wasserburg Concordia) for the R10 (1095.2 ± 4.7 Ma) and R19 (488.9 ± 0.9 Ma) standards.

U-Pb apatite data (Tera-Wasserburg Concordia) for the McClure Mountain (523.51 ± 1.47 Ma) and Durango (31.44 ± 0.18 Ma) standards. Madagascar apatite (Thomson et al., 2012, G3) is used as the primary standard.

SEM cathodoluminescence (CL) image of zircon.  The CL detector is installed on a Tescan Mira SEM at the Centre for Microscopy and Analysis in Trinity College Dublin.