A grain-by-grain comparison of apatite fission-track analysis by LA-ICP-MS and the External Detector Method

C Seiler; SC Boone; BP Kohn; AJW Gleadow

Journal article

A grain-by-grain comparison of apatite fission-track analysis by LA-ICP-MS and the External Detector Method

C Seiler, SC Boone, BP Kohn, AJW Gleadow

Chemical Geology | Published : 2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121623

Abstract

Laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is increasingly used in fission-track analysis to determine the uranium content of host mineral specimens, particularly apatite. Fission-track dating by LA-ICP-MS (LAFT) has several advantages over the conventional External Detector Method (EDM), particularly in terms of sample turn-around times and the fact that neutron irradiations and the handling of radioactive materials are no longer necessary, while providing a similar level of in-situ information about parent nuclide (238U) concentrations. In addition, it facilitates the simultaneous measurement of multiple isotopes for double or triple-dating approaches or compos..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Samuel Boone Author

Barry Kohn Author

Andy Gleadow Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ling Chung and Abaz Alimanovic for technical support during fission track dating and LA-ICP-MS analysis. Alan Greig is thanked for the solution ICP-MS data and for helpful discussions regarding LA-ICP-MS analysis. Pieter Vermeesch helped with the equations for central age calculations using the normal mixture-modelling algorithm. The automated fission track analysis facility at the University of Melbourne was developed with support from Australian Research Council Grants LP0348767 and LE0882818 and additional operational and equipment funding from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) AuScope program (https://www.auscope.org.au/) and the Education Investment Fund AGOS programs. The Melbourne Thermochronology Laboratories operate under the University of Melbourne TrACEES Research Platform.