Zircon is one of the most commonly used accessory minerals rich in U and Th for(U-Th)/He dating system. Compared with apatite, zircon has a higher He closure temperature (~190℃), which gives it more advantages in solving the problem of source material and thermal history reconstruction in sedimentary basins. However, the crystals of zircons often have U and Th zoning development, with obvious differences in concentration. Even the standard sample of FCT(Fish Canyon Tuff)zircon which is widely used in (U-Th)/He dating has an average age dispersion of about 10%. In this study, the Alphachron He isotope mass spectrometer is used for laser melting of a batch of single grains of FCT zircon(11 grains)to determine their 4He content. The contents of U and Th of parent isotopes are accurately determined by automatic injection of Agilent 7900 ICP-MS and isotope diluent method. The Th/U ratios of the 10 FCT zircons calculated with (U-Th)/He average age in this paper range from 0.52 to 0.67, which are consistent with the Th/U ratios of 186 reported so far. According to the Th/U ratios of 189 FCT zircons published in the statistical literature, we found that only three of them had high Th/U ratios, namely, 1.12, 1.16 and 1.5, the other 186 FCT zircons(occupy>98%) had a Th/U ratio less than 1. Based on previous results and the 10 Th/U ratios measured in this paper, 196 FCT zircons have a normal Th/U ratio ranging from 0.27 to 1.00, with an average ratio of 0.56(n=196). Excluding one abnormally old age, the(U-Th)/He ages of the remaining FCT zircons in this study range from 26.61 to 31.91Ma, with a weighted mean age of (28.8±3.1)Ma (2SD, n=10), which is consistent with the mean age ((28.3±3.1)Ma, 2σ, n=127) or (28.29±2.6)Ma(2σ external error, 9.3%, n=114)obtained by several other international laboratories. This indicates that the zircon single particle(U-Th)/He dating process established by our laboratory is reliable. For the zircon samples with U, Th banding and concentration differences prevailing, determining the distribution of U, Th elements in the crystal prior to the (U-Th)/He experiment is essential for understanding effects of geometry and elemental zoning on nuclear recoil and diffusion and the interpretation of (U-Th)/He age data. 相似文献
Zircon stability in silicate melts—which can be quantitatively constrained by laboratory measurements of zircon saturation—is important for understanding the evolution of magma. Although the original zircon saturation model proposed by Watson and Harrison (Earth Planet Sci Lett 64(2):295–304, 1983) is widely cited and has been updated recently, the three main models currently in use may generate large uncertainties due to extrapolation beyond their respective calibrated ranges. This paper reviews and updates zircon saturation models developed with temperature and compositional parameters. All available data on zircon saturation ranging in composition from mafic to silicic (and/or peralkaline to peraluminous) at temperatures from 750 to 1400 °C were collected to develop two refined models (1 and 2) that may be applied to the wider range of compositions. Model 1 is given by lnCZr(melt) = (14.297 ± 0.308) + (0.964 ± 0.066)·M − (11113 ± 374)/T, and model 2 given by lnCZr(melt) = (18.99 ± 0.423) − (1.069 ± 0.102)·lnG − (12288 ± 593)/T, where CZr(melt) is the Zr concentration of the melt in ppm and parameters M [= (Na + K + 2Ca)/(Al·Si)] (cation ratios) and G [= (3·Al2O3 + SiO2)/(Na2O + K2O + CaO + MgO + FeO)] (molar proportions) represent the melt composition. The errors are at one sigma, and T is the temperature in Kelvin. Before applying these models to natural rocks, it is necessary to ensure that the zircon used to date is crystallized from the host magmatic rock. Assessment of the application of both new and old models to natural rocks suggests that model 1 may be the best for magmatic temperature estimates of metaluminous to peraluminous rocks and that model 2 may be the best for estimating magmatic temperatures of alkaline to peralkaline rocks.
