Rutile R632-A New Natural Reference Material for U-Pb and Zr Determination

• A new natural rutile reference material is presented, suitable for U-Pb dating and Zr-in-rutile thermometry by microbeam methods. U-Pb dating of rutile R632 using laser ablation ICP-MS with both magnetic sector field and quadrupole instruments as well as isotope dilution-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry yielded a concordia age of 496 +/- 2Ma. The high U content (>300gg(-1)) enabled measurement of high-precision U-Pb ages despite its young age. The sample was found to have a Zr content of 4294 +/- 196gg(-1), which makes it an excellent complementary reference material for Zr-in-rutile thermometry. Individual rutile grains have homogeneous compositions of a number of other trace elements including V, Cr, Fe, Nb, Mo, Sn, Sb, Hf, Ta and W. This newly characterised material significantly expands the range of available rutile reference materials relevant for age and temperature determinations.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

rutile

reference material

U-Pb geochronology

Zr-in-rutile thermometry

trace element mass fractions

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)