Single-Grain (U-Th)/He Ages of Phosphates from St. Severin Chondrite

Mathematics – Probability

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

[1115] Geochronology / Radioisotope Geochronology, [1140] Geochronology / Thermochronology, [1160] Geochronology / Planetary And Lunar Geochronology, [6240] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Meteorites And Tektites

Scientific paper

Thermal evolution of chondrites provides valuable information on the heat budget, internal structure and dimensions of their parent bodies once existed before disruption. St. Severin LL6 ordinary chondrite is known to have experienced relatively slow cooling compared to H chondrites. The timings of primary cooling and subsequent thermal metamorphism were constrained by U/Pb (4.55 Ga), Sm/Nd (4.55 Ga), Rb/Sr (4.51 Ga) and K/Ar (4.4 Ga) systems. However, cooling history after the thermal metamorphism in a low temperature range (<200 °C) is poorly understood. In order to constrain the low-T thermal history of this meteorite, we performed (1) single-grain (U-Th)/He dating for five chlorapatite and fourteen merrillite aggregates from St. Severin, (2) examination of textural and chemical features of the phosphate aggregates using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and (3) proton-irradiation followed by 4He and 3He diffusion experiments for single grains of chlorapatite and merrillite from Guarena meteorite, for general characterization of He diffusivity in these major U-Th reservoirs in meteorites. The α-recoil-uncorrected ages from St. Severin are distributed in a wide range of 333 ± 6 Ma and 4620 ± 1307 Ma. The probability density plot of these data shows a typical younging-skewed age distribution with a prominent peak at ~ 4.3 Ga. The weighted mean of the nine oldest samples is 4.284 ± 0.130 Ga, which is consistent with the peak of the probability plot. The linear dimensions of the phosphates are generally in the range of ~50 µm to 200 µm. The α recoil correction factor (FT) based on the morphology of the phosphate yields improbably old ages (>4.6 Ga), suggesting that within the sample aggregates, significant amounts of the α particles ejected from phosphates were implanted into the adjacent phases and therefore that this correction may not be appropriate in this case. The minimum FT value of 0.95 is calculated based on the peak (U-Th)/He age and 40Ar/39Ar data which provide the upper limit of the α-recoil-corrected (U-Th)/He ages. From these data, we conclude that the St. Severin cooled through the closure temperatures of chlorapatite and merrillite during ~4.3 - 4.4 Ga. The radiogenic 4He and proton-induced 3He diffusion experiments yield two well-defined linear trends in Arrhenius plot for chlorapatite (r = 43 µm) and merrillite (r = 59 µm) grains. The linear regression of 3He data for chlorapatite yields Ea = 128.1 ± 2.4 kJ/mol, and ln(Do/a2) = 11.6 ± 0.5 ln(s-1) which are generally consistent with the terrestrial Durango apatite and meteoritic Acapulco apatite. Linear regression to the merrillite data corresponds to Ea = 135.1 ± 2.5 kJ/mol, and ln(Do/a2) = 5.73 ± 0.37 ln(s-1). The new data indicate that diffusive retentivity of He within merrillite is significantly higher than that of chlorapatite, which has implications for quantitative interpretation of He ages measured in meteoritic phosphates.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Single-Grain (U-Th)/He Ages of Phosphates from St. Severin Chondrite does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Single-Grain (U-Th)/He Ages of Phosphates from St. Severin Chondrite, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Single-Grain (U-Th)/He Ages of Phosphates from St. Severin Chondrite will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1495156

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.