High-Precision U-Pb Zircon Geochronology and the Stratigraphic Record: Progress and Promise

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Bowring ◽  
Blair Schoene ◽  
James L. Crowley ◽  
Jahandar Ramezani ◽  
Daniel J. Condon

High-precision geochronological techniques have improved in the past decade to the point where volcanic ash beds interstratified with fossil-bearing rocks can be dated to a precision of 0.1% or better. The integration of high-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology with bio/chemo-stratigraphic data brings about new opportunities and challenges toward constructing a fully calibrated time scale for the geologic record, which is necessary for a thorough understanding of the distribution of time and life in Earth history. Successful implementation of geochronology as an integral tool for the paleontologist relies on a basic knowledge of its technical aspects, as well as an ability to properly evaluate and compare geochronologic results from different methods. This paper summarizes the methodology and new improvements in U-Pb zircon geochronology by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry, specifically focused on its application to the stratigraphic record.

2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 1127-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
FERNANDO CORFU ◽  
STÉPHANE POLTEAU ◽  
SVERRE PLANKE ◽  
JAN INGE FALEIDE ◽  
HENRIK SVENSEN ◽  
...  

AbstractThe opening of the Arctic oceanic basins in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic proceeded in steps, with episodes of magmatism and sedimentation marking specific stages in this development. In addition to the stratigraphic record provided by sediments and fossils, the intrusive and extrusive rocks yield important information on this evolution. This study has determined the ages of mafic sills and a felsic tuff in Svalbard and Franz Josef Land using the isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) U–Pb method on zircon, baddeleyite, titanite and rutile. The results indicate crystallization of the Diabasodden sill at 124.5 ± 0.2 Ma and the Linnévatn sill at 124.7 ± 0.3 Ma, the latter also containing slightly younger secondary titanite with an age of 123.9 ± 0.3 Ma. A bentonite in the Helvetiafjellet Formation, also on Svalbard, has an age of 123.3 ± 0.2 Ma. Zircon in mafic sills intersected by drill cores in Franz Josef Land indicate an age of 122.7 Ma for a thick sill on Severnaya Island and a single grain age of ≥122.2 ± 1.1 Ma for a thinner sill on Nagurskaya Island. These data emphasize the importance and relatively short-lived nature of the Cretaceous magmatic event in the region.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1388-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsa Yobregat ◽  
Caroline Fitoussi ◽  
Bernard Bourdon

A new protocol using Eichron™ Sr-resin for high-resolution Sr and Ba isotope measurements using thermal ionization mass spectrometry for cosmochemical samples.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 658-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albrecht von Quadt ◽  
Jörn-Frederik Wotzlaw ◽  
Yannick Buret ◽  
Simon J. E. Large ◽  
Irena Peytcheva ◽  
...  

Accessory mineral U–Pb geochronology by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) requires precise and accurate determinations of parent–daughter isotope ratios.


Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gregory Shellnutt ◽  
Thuy Thanh Pham ◽  
Steven W. Denyszyn ◽  
Meng-Wan Yeh ◽  
Tuan-Anh Tran

Abstract The eruption of Emeishan lava in southwestern China and northern Vietnam is considered to be a contributing factor to the Capitanian mass extinction and subsequent global cooling event, but the duration of volcanism is uncertain. The difficulty in assessing the termination age is, in part, due to the lack of high-precision age data for late-stage volcanic rocks. The Tu Le rhyolite of northern Vietnam is the most voluminous silicic unit of the Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) and is spatially associated with the Muong Hum and Phan Si Pan hypabyssal plutons. Chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb dating of zircons from the Tu Le rhyolite (257.1 ± 0.6 Ma to 257.9 ± 0.3 Ma) and Muong Hum (257.3 ± 0.2 Ma) and Phan Si Pan (256.3 ± 0.4 Ma) plutons yielded the youngest high-precision ages of the ELIP yet determined. The results demonstrate that Emeishan lavas erupted over a period of ∼6 m.y,. with plutonism ending shortly thereafter. Thus, it is possible that Emeishan volcanism contributed to global cooling into the middle Wuchiapingian. It appears that these rocks represent a distinct period of ELIP magmatism, as they are young and were emplaced oblique to the main north-south–trending Panxi rift.


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