Articles | Volume 3, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-259-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-259-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The closure temperature(s) of zircon Raman dating
Birk Härtel
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Geologie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Raymond Jonckheere
Geologie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Bastian Wauschkuhn
Geologie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Lothar Ratschbacher
Geologie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Related authors
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Raymond Jonckheere, Florian Trilsch, Birk Härtel, and Thorsten Nagel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1924, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1924, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
Short summary
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Fission-track modelling rest on empirical equations fitted to lab datasets. It is therefore doubtful that a specific set applies to all samples, protocols, and analysts, while there also remain unresolved issues. We propose a different take on the data. Our aim is not to improve existing equations, but to construct the basis of an alternative approach, as a reference for interrogating current assumptions, and perhaps as the beginnings of a model that can connect with the latent-track properties.
Raymond Jonckheere, Florian Trilsch, Jie Liu, Pengfei Zhai, and Thorsten Nagel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-889, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-889, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The fission-track method traces the thermal histories of rocks based on microscopic examination of etched damage trails from uranium fission in apatite. Etching involves two velocities: the rate, vT, of etchant advance along the damage trails and the etch rate, vR, of undamaged apatite. Their values govern which grains are suitable for counting and which tracks are suitable for measurement. Our work provides direct numerical estimates of vT and vR, and investigates the factors that control them.
Raymond Charles Jonckheere
Geochronology Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2023-13, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2023-13, 2023
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the relationship between damage trails from uranium fission in apatite and the etched tracks measured with an optical microscope. We aim to understand sampling biases and to improve etching, selection and measurement protocols. The track orientation and length, apatite and track etch rate, and effective etch time co-determine whether a track is suitable for measurement. Reliable data are attainable because the specific sample properties have but a limited effect on these factors.
Carolin Aslanian, Raymond Jonckheere, Bastian Wauschkuhn, and Lothar Ratschbacher
Geochronology, 4, 109–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-109-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Fission tracks are damage trails from uranium fission in minerals, whose ages and thermal histories are deduced from their number and length. A mineral is etched for observing the tracks with a microscope. We show that the etching and observation conditions affect the track count and explain it in the framework of a recent etch model. We conclude that established solutions do not secure that the ages and thermal histories inferred from track counts and measurements are accurate.
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Short summary
We carried out thermal annealing experiments between 500 and 1000 °C to determine the closure temperature of radiation-damage annealing in zircon (ZrSiO4). Our results show that the different Raman bands of zircon respond differently to annealing. The repair is highest for the external rotation Raman band near 356.6 cm−1. The closure temperature estimates range from 250 to 370 °C for different bands. The differences in closure temperatures offer the prospect of multi-T zircon Raman dating.
We carried out thermal annealing experiments between 500 and 1000 °C to determine the closure...