Articles | Volume 8, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-8-645-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-8-645-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
On the effects of ageing and annealing on the apatite and fission-track etch rates
Raymond Jonckheere
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Endogene Geologie, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Florian Trilsch
Endogene Geologie, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
Jie Liu
Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Pengfei Zhai
Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Thorsten Nagel
Endogene Geologie, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
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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.
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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
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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.
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
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 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
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 numerical estimates of vT and vR, and investigates the factors that control them.
The fission-track method traces the thermal histories of rocks based on microscopic examination...