Articles | Volume 6, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-697-2024
Research article
 | 
20 Dec 2024
Research article |  | 20 Dec 2024

Interpreting cooling dates and histories from laser ablation in situ (U–Th–Sm) ∕ He thermochronometry: a modelling perspective

Christoph Glotzbach and Todd A. Ehlers

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Cited articles

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Bragg, W. H., and Kleeman, R.: On the α particles of radium, and their loss of range in passing through various atoms and molecules, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 10, 318–340, https://doi.org/10.1080/14786440509463378, 1905. 
Brown, R. W., Beucher, R., Roper, S., Persano, C., Stuart, F., and Fitzgerald, P.: Natural age dispersion arising from the analysis of broken crystals. Part I: Theoretical basis and implications for the apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronometer, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 122, 478–497, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2013.05.041, 2013. 
Chew, D. M., Petrus, J. A., Kenny, G. G., and McEvoy, N.: Rapid high-resolution U–Pb LA-Q-ICPMS age mapping of zircon, J. Anal. Atom. Spectr., 32, 262–276, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6JA00404K, 2017. 
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Short summary
The (U–Th–Sm) / He dating method helps understand the cooling history of rocks. Synthetic modelling experiments were conducted to explore factors affecting in situ vs. whole-grain (U–Th) / He dates. In situ dates are often 30 % older than whole-grain dates, whereas very rapid cooling makes helium loss negligible, resulting in similar whole-grain and in situ dates. In addition, in situ data can reveal cooling histories even from a single grain by measuring helium distributions.
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