Geochronological and geochemical effects of zircon chemical abrasion: insights from single-crystal stepwise dissolution experiments

McKanna, Alyssa J.; Schoene, Blair; Szymanowski, Dawid

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-1-2024

Articles | Volume 6, issue 1

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Articles | Volume 6, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-1-2024

Articles | Volume 6, issue 1

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09 Jan 2024

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 09 Jan 2024

Geochronological and geochemical effects of zircon chemical abrasion: insights from single-crystal stepwise dissolution experiments

Alyssa J. McKanna, Blair Schoene, and Dawid Szymanowski

Alyssa J. McKanna

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

ajmckanna@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7411-417X

Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

Blair Schoene

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7092-8590

Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

Dawid Szymanowski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9524-5710

Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

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Total article views: 1,386 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

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Total: 1,386
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BibTeX: 70
EndNote: 70

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Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	157	40	2	199
Feb 2024	135	11	4	150
Mar 2024	74	15	5	94
Apr 2024	89	12	9	110
May 2024	43	15	5	63
Jun 2024	81	11	5	97
Jul 2024	59	12	6	77
Aug 2024	50	11	5	66
Sep 2024	30	3	2	35
Oct 2024	49	13	5	67
Nov 2024	41	8	4	53
Dec 2024	70	8	3	81
Jan 2025	100	14	5	119
Feb 2025	60	8	3	71
Mar 2025	94	7	3	104

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 09 Jan 2024)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	157	40	2	199
Feb 2024	135	11	4	150
Mar 2024	74	15	5	94
Apr 2024	89	12	9	110
May 2024	43	15	5	63
Jun 2024	81	11	5	97
Jul 2024	59	12	6	77
Aug 2024	50	11	5	66
Sep 2024	30	3	2	35
Oct 2024	49	13	5	67
Nov 2024	41	8	4	53
Dec 2024	70	8	3	81
Jan 2025	100	14	5	119
Feb 2025	60	8	3	71
Mar 2025	94	7	3	104

Total article views: 667 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

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449	194	24	667	55	13	13

HTML: 449
PDF: 194
XML: 24
Total: 667
Supplement: 55
BibTeX: 13
EndNote: 13

Views and downloads (calculated since 05 Jul 2023)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	157	40	2	199
Feb 2024	135	11	4	150
Mar 2024	74	15	5	94
Apr 2024	89	12	9	110
May 2024	43	15	5	63
Jun 2024	81	11	5	97
Jul 2024	59	12	6	77
Aug 2024	50	11	5	66
Sep 2024	30	3	2	35
Oct 2024	49	13	5	67
Nov 2024	41	8	4	53
Dec 2024	70	8	3	81
Jan 2025	100	14	5	119
Feb 2025	60	8	3	71
Mar 2025	94	7	3	104

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 05 Jul 2023)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	157	40	2	199
Feb 2024	135	11	4	150
Mar 2024	74	15	5	94
Apr 2024	89	12	9	110
May 2024	43	15	5	63
Jun 2024	81	11	5	97
Jul 2024	59	12	6	77
Aug 2024	50	11	5	66
Sep 2024	30	3	2	35
Oct 2024	49	13	5	67
Nov 2024	41	8	4	53
Dec 2024	70	8	3	81
Jan 2025	100	14	5	119
Feb 2025	60	8	3	71
Mar 2025	94	7	3	104

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Total article views: 2,053 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 1,991 with geography defined and 62 with unknown origin.

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Total article views: 667 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 660 with geography defined and 7 with unknown origin.

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China	2	288	14
Germany	3	165	8
Switzerland	4	109	5
Canada	5	61	2

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China	2	236	17
Germany	3	132	9
Finland	4	54	3
India	5	48	3

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United States of America	1	272	40
Switzerland	2	63	9
China	3	52	7
Canada	4	35	5
Germany	5	33	4


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704


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432


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272

Cited

Show all Final revised paper only Preprint only

9 citations as recorded by crossref.

Atomic spectrometry update – a review of advances in environmental analysis W. Cairns et al. 10.1039/D4JA90056A
Detrital zircon geochronology of the Paleoproterozoic Nonacho Basin (Northwest Territories, Canada): A record of post-collisional collapse amid supercontinent aggregation J. Lockie et al. 10.1016/j.precamres.2025.107731
Recommendations for the reporting and interpretation of isotope dilution U-Pb geochronological information D. Condon et al. 10.1130/B37321.1
High-precision U-Pb zircon dating identifies a major magmatic event on the Moon at 4.338 Ga M. Barboni et al. 10.1126/sciadv.adn9871
µID-TIMS: spatially resolved high-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology S. Markovic et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-621-2024
Short communication: Resolving the discrepancy between U–Pb age estimates for the “Likhall” bed, a key level in the Ordovician timescale A. Paul et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-325-2024
Controls on zircon age distributions in volcanic, porphyry and plutonic rocks C. Nathwani et al. 10.5194/gchron-7-15-2025
Effect of chemical abrasion of zircon on SIMS U–Pb, δ18O, trace element, and LA-ICPMS trace element and Lu–Hf isotopic analyses C. Kooymans et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-337-2024
Evaluating reference materials and common-Pb corrections for high-resolution apatite U Pb geochronology F. Apen et al. 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122191

9 citations as recorded by crossref.

Atomic spectrometry update – a review of advances in environmental analysis W. Cairns et al. 10.1039/D4JA90056A
Detrital zircon geochronology of the Paleoproterozoic Nonacho Basin (Northwest Territories, Canada): A record of post-collisional collapse amid supercontinent aggregation J. Lockie et al. 10.1016/j.precamres.2025.107731
Recommendations for the reporting and interpretation of isotope dilution U-Pb geochronological information D. Condon et al. 10.1130/B37321.1
High-precision U-Pb zircon dating identifies a major magmatic event on the Moon at 4.338 Ga M. Barboni et al. 10.1126/sciadv.adn9871
µID-TIMS: spatially resolved high-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology S. Markovic et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-621-2024
Short communication: Resolving the discrepancy between U–Pb age estimates for the “Likhall” bed, a key level in the Ordovician timescale A. Paul et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-325-2024
Controls on zircon age distributions in volcanic, porphyry and plutonic rocks C. Nathwani et al. 10.5194/gchron-7-15-2025
Effect of chemical abrasion of zircon on SIMS U–Pb, δ18O, trace element, and LA-ICPMS trace element and Lu–Hf isotopic analyses C. Kooymans et al. 10.5194/gchron-6-337-2024
Evaluating reference materials and common-Pb corrections for high-resolution apatite U Pb geochronology F. Apen et al. 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122191

Latest update: 31 Mar 2025

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U-Pb dating of zircon is the most widely used method in geochronology. This paper provides key new insights into the causes and extents of Pb-loss in zircon and how to deal with it to derived geologically significant and meaningful ages from zircon, not just dates. The approach and quantified method presented in this paper is an important step forward towards improvement of U-Pb zircon ages.

U-Pb dating of zircon is the most widely used method in geochronology. This paper provides key...

Short summary

Acid leaching is used to remove radiation-damaged portions of zircon crystals prior to U–Pb dating to improve the accuracy of datasets. We test how the temperature and duration of acid leaching affect geochronological and geochemical outcomes. We build a framework that relates radiation damage, zircon solubility, and Pb loss.

Acid leaching is used to remove radiation-damaged portions of zircon crystals prior to U–Pb...