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1
Loehn, Clayton William. "Investigation of the monazite chemical dating technique." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27688.
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In order to evaluate the electron microprobe (EMP) method for chemical dating of monazite, we chemically analyzed selected suites of monazite grains that were previously dated by standard U/Pb isotopic methods at three laboratories each equipped with a sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP). Representing diverse igneous and metamorphic lithologies, these grains yielded conventional isotopic ages ranging in age from Neoarchean to Devonian. Chemical dating was performed at Virginia Tech using a Cameca SX-50 EMP in which the analytical routines and settings were specifically optimized for monazite geochronology, including correction of analytical peaks for all major spectral interferences and correction of peak intensities for local background emission. Placement of cross-grain analytical traverses was based on backscattered electron (BSE) images together with wavelength-dispersive (WD) generated X-ray maps for Y, Th, U, and Ca, which revealed the internal compositional complexity of each grain. Shorter EMP traverses were selected adjacent to each SHRIMP pit in order to provide the best possible comparison of ages obtained by the two dating methods. Synthesis protocol for key elemental measurements (Y, Th, U, and Pb) was developed utilizing the 1Ï elemental errors associated with individual analyses, providing an objective approach for data synthesis. Analytical dates were either accepted or excluded based on analytical and spatial justifications. Isotopic dating techniques utilize three independent age calculations, provided the sample is old enough to have accumulated sufficient 207Pb (i.e., â ¥~1000 Ma). Similarly, the chemical dating method can utilize two independent age calculations (i.e., Th/Pb and U/Pb) and a U-Th-Pbtotal centroid age in Th/Pb vs. U/Pb space, verified independently against the calculated Th* or U* CHIME ages. Across the entire 2,200 m.y. age range represented by the sample set, the chemical ages calculated from the EMP data chemical ages are internally consistent (within 2Ï error) with the previously measured SHRIMP isotopic ages, except in one case where bulk mixing of discrete age domains within an ablation pit led to an isotopically discordant apparent age. Overall, this study illustrates that EMP chemical dating (1) represents both an accurate and precise primary method for dating monazite from igneous and polymetamorphic terrains; (2) provides superior spatial resolution for obtaining meaningful ages from small and/or irregular domains of discrete age that may be irresolvable or misinterpreted by other dating techniques that sample larger volumes; and (3) illuminates the geological meaning of isotopically discordant monazite ages obtained using conventional methods with lower spatial resolution (e.g., SHRIMP).Ph. D.
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Simons, Suzanne Lee. "U-Th-Pb systematics of opaline silica: Implications for the dating of surface processes." Thesis, Curtin University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36.
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U–Pb and U-series analyses of U-rich, relative to both Th and Pb, opal samples using sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) demonstrate the ability of this technique for dating opals with ages ranging from several tens of thousands of years to millions of years and from a variety of deposition environments. This experimental study increases the understanding of opal as a geochronometer and explores the stability of U-Th-Pb systematics in opaline silica.
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Placzek, Christa. "Stratigraphy, Geochronology and Geochemistry of Paleolakes on the Southern Bolivian Altiplano." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194352.
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Precise chronologies of climate events in the tropics are rare yet essential for understanding how tropical climate relates to global climate at millennial to longer time scales. An increasingly important area for understanding these interactions is the southern Bolivian Altiplano (15-22oS) which represents the waning and southeastern end of the South American Monsoon, a system that is, today, modulated by regional upper-air circulation anomalies under the influence of tropical Pacific sea-surface temperature gradients associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Mechanisms of summer rainfall variations on millennial and longer time scales are less well understood, despite well-established evidence for profound changes in hydrologic budgets on the southern Bolivian Altiplano. Large shifts in effective moisture on the southern Bolivian Altiplano produced deep lakes in the Poopo, Coipasa, and Uyuni basins, basins that are currently occupied by salt pans or very shallow lakes. We mapped shoreline stratigraphy and sampled carbonates for over 170 uranium-thorium (U-Th) and radiocarbon (14C) dates to refine paleolake history of the Southern Bolivian Altiplano. As part of this dissertation work, I helped assemble a U-Th dating facility at the University of Arizona and obtained over 90 uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates from paleolake carbonates. Carbonate textures were evaluated for potential diagenetic effects, but the principal consideration in dating such carbonates is the isotopic composition and quantity of initial Th incorporated into the carbonate. We establish criteria for statigraphically meaningful dates and strategies for successful U-Th dating of paleolake carbonates. The stable isotope, 87-strontium/86-strontium (87Sr/86Sr), and 234U/238U ratios of modern surface waters and of paleolake carbonates can be used as tracers of the region's various lake cycles and provides a test hydrologic models of these lake cycles.Volcanic tuffs provide important stratigraphic markers for paleolimnologic, geomorphic, and archeological studies. Despite the widespread occurrence of late Quaternary tuffs on the Bolivian Altiplano, few of these deposits have been previously recognized either from natural exposures or in paleolake sediment cores. We document the presence of 38 distal tuffs in Quaternary lacustrine and alluvial deposits, and determine the composition of glass and phenocrysts by electron microprobe analyses.
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Guenthner, William Rexford. "Zircon (U-Th)/He Dates from Radiation Damaged Crystals: A New Damage-He Diffusivity Model for the Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronometer." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/306783.
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Zircon (U-Th)/He (zircon He) dating has become a widely used thermochronologic method in the geosciences. Practitioners have traditionally interpreted (U-Th)/He dates from zircons across a broad spectrum of chemical compositions with a single set of ⁴He diffusion kinetics derived from only a handful of crystals (Reiners et al., 2004). However, it has become increasingly clear that a "one-size-fits-all" approach to these kinetics is inadequate, leading to erroneous conclusions and incongruent data. This dissertation develops a more grain-specific approach by showing the fundamental role that intracrystalline radiation damage plays in determining the He diffusivity in a given zircon. I present three appendices that seek to quantify the radiation damage effect on He diffusion in zircon, explain how this effect manifests in zircon He dates, and show how to exploit such manifestations to better constrain sample thermal histories. Of particular importance, this dissertation represents the first comprehensive study to concentrate on the entire damage spectrum found in natural zircon and also the first to show that two different mechanisms affect He diffusion in zircon in different ways across this spectrum. In the first appendix, I and my fellow co-authors describe results from a series of step-heating experiments that show how the alpha dose of a given zircon, which we interpret to be correlated with accumulated radiation damage, influences its He diffusivity. From 1.2 × 10¹⁶ α/g to 1.4 × 10¹⁸ α/g, He diffusivity at a given temperature decreases by three orders of magnitude, but as alpha dose increases from ~2 × 10¹⁸ α/g to 8.2 × 10¹⁸ α/g, He diffusivity then increases by about nine orders of magnitude. We parameterize both the initial decrease and eventual increase in diffusivity with alpha dose with a function that describes these changes in terms of increasing abundance and size of intracrystalline radiation damage zones and resulting effects on the tortuosity of He migration pathways and dual-domain behavior. This is combined with another equation that describes damage annealing in zircon. The end result is a new model that constrains the coevolution of damage, He diffusivity, and He date in zircon as a function of its actinide content and thermal history. The second and third appendices use this new model to decipher zircon He datasets comprising many single grain dates that are correlated with effective uranium (eU, a proxy for the relative degree of radiation damage among grains from the same sample). The model is critical for proper interpretation of results from igneous settings that show date-eU correlations and were once considered spurious (appendix B). When applied to partially reset sedimentary rocks, other sources of date variability, such as damage and He inheritance, have to be considered as well (appendix C).
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Burnside, Neil Murray. "U-Th dating of travertines on the Colorado Plateau : implications for the leakage of geologically stored CO2." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2010. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1988/.
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In order to avoid the damaging climatic consequences of rising atmospheric CO2, and reduce current atmospheric CO2 concentrations to pre-industrial levels, anthropogenic CO2 emissions must be mitigated by capturing CO2 at power plants and storing it for thousands of years. Underground storage within deep geological formations, such as depleted gas and oil fields or deep saline aquifers, is the best understood solution for storage of CO2. In order for this method to gain more public and political acceptance it is important to characterise the potential causes, quantities and rates of CO2 release that could result if leakage were to occur from anthropogenic storage projects. This study examines two sites in the Colorado Plateau where faulted and actively leaking CO2 reservoirs provide natural analogues for failed anthropogenic storage sites. The two sites in question, the Little Grand Wash and northern Salt Wash graben faults are situated at the northern end of the Paradox Basin in Utah and represent classic three way traps due to juxtaposition of the shallow, north plunging Green River anticline against a set of east-west trending normal faults. In addition to active leakage sites in each area there are numerous fossilised travertine deposits. Along the Little Grand Wash fault the ancient mounds are restricted to the fault trace whereas ancient travertine mounds associated with the northern fault of the Salt Wash graben are far more numerous and occur up to ~530 m into the footwall of the fault. This more diffuse pattern of flow is due to the outcropping of unconfined aquifer units at the surface. A total of 45 U-Th dates from the majority of these travertine mounds provides a unique data set. The oldest deposits from the Little Grand Wash and northern Salt Wash graben faults produced ages of 113,912 ± 604 and 413,474 ± 15,127 years respectively. Repeat ages show reasonable reproducibility and analytical errors on results are of the order of 1% of the ages. The coupling of travertine elevation measurements with their radiometric ages gives an incision rate for each site. A rate of 0.342 m/ka for the Little Grand Wash fault relates directly to Green River incision and agrees with previous work on the Colorado Plateau, providing a further data point for characterisation of uplift of the province. For the northern fault of the Salt Wash graben a rate of 0.168 m/ka for the tributaries running through the area gives a robust method with which to estimate ages for un-dated mounds. The results of radiometric dating and incision rate age estimation of travertine mounds shows that leakage can last for timescales of 100,000’s of years, while high resolution U-Th dating of an individual mound demonstrated that leakage from a single point can last for a minimum of ~11,000 years. A range of travertine ages show that leakage to the surface has constantly switched location through time, while the presence of three mounds of distinct age at one location demonstrate that pathways can become repeatedly re-used over periods of ~45,000 years. There is no evidence of temporal periodicity in travertine deposition but there is a distinct spatial pattern of leakage as shown by localised similarities in the initial uranium chemistries of travertine mounds. Initial leakage is proximally located to the axial trace of the Green River anticline and subsequent leakage spreads from this central point along the fault plane in both east and west directions. The switching of fluid flow pathways to the surface can be explained by three main mechanisms: mineralisation, 3-phase interference of CO2 related fluid flow and seismically triggered alteration in dynamic strain acting upon the hydrology of the faults. These mechanisms have differing influences in each area - demonstrating that the behaviour of fluid flow switching in a system confined to damage zone fractures (Little Grand Wash fault) is different to a system leaking through an unconfined aquifer (northern fault of the Salt Wash graben). Coupling of travertine ages with estimates of their volumes provided a total worse case scenario for quantity of CO2 leakage of 6.2 x 10^6 ± 1.7 x 10^6 tonnes for the Little Grand Wash fault and 7.4 x 10^6 ± 2 x 10^6 tonnes for the northern fault of the Salt Wash graben. From these totals time averaged leakage rates of 55 ± 15 and 47 ± 13 tonnes/year were estimated for each fault. The leakage rate for the actively precipitating Crystal Geyser travertine (which is the result of anthropogenic exploration drilling) is estimated to be 3,153 ± 851 tonnes/year. These total and modern rates provide analogues for leakage via caprock failure and catastrophic wellbore failure. Applying them to large scale storage sites such as Weyburn and Gorgon revealed that for caprock failure complete leakage of these reservoirs will take place over timescales of 10^5-10^6 years, while for catastrophic failure of a single well complete leakage of these reservoirs could occur over as little as 10^3 – 10^4 years. This finding has important implications for the successful monitoring of anthropogenic storage sites.
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Dean, J. R. "Stable isotope analysis and U-Th dating of late glacial and Holocene lacustrine sediments from central Turkey." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2014. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14090/.
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Water is a politically sensitive resource in the Near East and water stress is increasing. It is therefore vital that there is a strong understanding of past hydrological variability, so that the drivers of change can be better understood, and so that the links between the palaeoclimate and archaeological records in this key region in the development of human civilisation can be investigated. To be of most use, this requires high resolution records and a good understanding of palaeoseasonality. A sediment sequence spanning ~14,000 years has been retrieved from Nar Gölü, a lake in central Turkey. This thesis presents isotope data from carbonates, diatoms and bulk organic matter, in particular focussing on oxygen isotope (δ18O) analysis of carbonates (which detailed monitoring of the modern lake system shows to be a strong proxy for water balance) and comparing δ18Ocarbonate and δ18Odiatom data in order to examine palaeoseasonality. Improved techniques for the interpretation of carbonate isotope records of mixed mineralogies and the mass balance correction of diatom samples contaminated with minerogenic material are also proposed. Due to the high resolution δ18Ocarbonate data, it was possible to show that the rapidity of the Younger Dryas to Holocene transition at Nar Gölü was similar to that seen in North Atlantic records and that centennial scale arid events in the Holocene seem to occur at the time of cold periods in the North Atlantic. Taken together, this suggests a strong teleconnection between the two regions. However, the longer duration of the aridity peaks ~9,300 and ~8,200 years BP at Nar Gölü, compared with the more discrete cooling events at this time in the North Atlantic, suggest that there are additional controls on Near East hydroclimate. There is a multi-millennial scale trend of increasing δ18Ocarbonate values from the early to late Holocene. This ‘Mid Holocene Transition’ has previously been identified in the Near East, however here it is demonstrated that water balance and not a shift in the seasonality of precipitation was the primary cause. Finally, for the first time, the stability of Near East climate in the early Holocene is robustly demonstrated, suggesting that this could have been a key enabler of the development of agriculture at this time.
7
Yamada, Kunimi. "Thermochronology using (U-Th)/He dating method : investigation for effects of secular disequilibrium on (U-Th)/He ages and uplift history of the Tanzawa mountains in the south Fossa Magna region." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/144205.
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Kyoto University (京都大学)0048
新制・課程博士
博士(理学)
甲第12122号
理博第3016号
新制||理||1450(附属図書館)
23958
UT51-2006-J117
京都大学大学院理学研究科地球惑星科学専攻
(主査)助教授 田上 高広, 教授 嶋本 利彦, 教授 小畑 正明
学位規則第4条第1項該当
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Xia, Qikai. "High precision TIMS U-Th disequilibrium dating and C, O, Sr isotope-based multi-proxy palaeoclimatic study of Speleothems in Australia /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2004. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe18421.pdf.
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Adams, Byron A. "Exhumation and incision history of the Lahul Himalaya, northern India, based on (U-Th)/He thermochronometry and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating techniques." Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=ucin1180546920.
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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Cincinnati, 2007.Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Oct. 8, 2007). Includes abstract. Keywords: Lahul, Himalaya, exhumation, incision, thermochronometry, terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides, strath terraces. Includes bibliographical references.
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Brown, Summer Jasmine. "Integrating apatite (U-Th)/He and fission track dating for a comprehensive thermochronological analysis: refining the uplift history of the Teton Range." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32718.
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Uplift of the Teton Range is primarily controlled by displacement across the range-front Teton normal fault. The Tetons comprise the footwall block while the hanging wall encompasses Jackson Hole valley and a portion of the Snake River. Relative to the rest of the Rocky Mountains, the Tetons experienced the majority of uplift very recently, substantiating the need for a detailed investigation integrating structural analysis and bedrock thermochronometry. New low-temperature cooling ages are documented in three vertical transects across the Teton Range and at low elevations parallel to the Teton fault. Samples adjacent to the Teton fault are consistently young (~9 Ma) and represent a minimum estimate for the onset of Teton fault-related uplift. Modeling of time-temperature histories supports a ~9-11 Ma onset of rapid uplift, indicating that the Teton fault likely originated as a Basin and Range-type structure. A maximum throw of ~8 km occurs proximal to the Grand Teton, while the average throw for the entire ~100 km along-strike fault length is ~3.3 km. Thus, the geometry of the Teton fault is comparable to traditional scaling relationships dictating a correlation between fault length and displacement. Inversion of the typical (U-Th)/He (AHe) and fission track (AFT) relationship in a few of the Teton Range samples is a result of intense zoning, primarily in apatite from Precambrian layered gneisses. Nonetheless, both the AHe and AFT ages consistently indicate slight differential uplift of the Tetons between the Late Oligocene and Middle Miocene. HeFTy models indicate that doming of the Precambrian-Paleozoic unconformity occurred prior to ~50 Ma. However, by ~15 Ma, rapid cooling of the Mount Moran section essentially â flattenedâ the unconformity. Thus, the modern domed shape is a result of displacement across the Teton fault, allowing the unconformity to be used as a proxy for fault deformation. Moreover, reconstruction of the unconformity and volume calculations produced an average depth to incision of ~0.3 km and a long-term erosion rate of 0.18 mm/yr. Compared to the long-term uplift rate of 0.22 mm/yr, this provides a quantitative explanation for the modern Teton topography.Master of Science
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Adams, Byron A. "Exhumation and incision histories of the Lahul Himalaya, northern India, based on (U-Th)/He thermochronology and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating techniques." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1180546920.
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Buscher, Jamie Todd. "Long-term exhumation of landscapes along the Pacific-North American plate boundary as inferred from apatite (U-Th)/He and ArcGIS analyses." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27760.
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The Pacific-North American plate boundary is typified by transpression and convergence, yet the relationship between interplate deformation and long-term crustal shortening is not fully understood. The continuous belt of rugged topography that extends along the entire plate boundary is generally associated with oblique tectonic plate motion, strong interplate coupling, and terrane accretion, but relating plate boundary orogenesis to variations in plate geometry and behavior requires detailed case studies. The northern San Gabriel Mountains along the San Andreas fault and the Chugach-Kenai Mountains above the Aleutian subduction zone are located along highly tectonically active sections of the Pacific-North American plate boundary and have not been studied from the context of long-term landscape development. To determine whether mountain building along these sections of the plate boundary reflects recent, rapid exhumation as observed in bordering mountain belts, low-temperature thermochronometry and topographic analyses were applied to each area. In the northern San Gabriel Mountains, apatite (U-Th)/He ages are >10 Ma along narrow crystalline ridges topped by low-slope erosional surfaces located within ~5 km of the San Andreas fault zone. In the Chugach-Kenai Mountains, the youngest apatite (U-Th)/He ages (~5 Ma) are an order of magnitude older than those from the Yakutat collision zone to the east, despite the presence of a continuous swath of glaciated, rugged topography between the two areas. Exhumation rates inferred from these ages are <1 mm/yr, suggesting that there has been minimal recent denudation in the northern San Gabriel and Chugach-Kenai Mountains. The lack of evidence for recent mountain building in both of these case studies implies that interplate deformation is heterogeneous and that other factors (secondary structures, climate) besides plate kinematics and topographic character must be considered for understanding landscape development.Ph. D.
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Sakata, Shuhei. "Development of analytical technique for precise age determination of Quaternary zircons with the correction of the initial disequilibrium on U-Th-Pb decay series using a laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/199112.
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Kawata, Marcelo Takei. "Evolução tectono-metamórfica da formação São Tomé, Grupo Rio Doce, faixa Araçuaí." Universidade de São Paulo, 2018. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/44/44141/tde-17072018-144805/.
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A presente dissertação apresenta uma investigação sobre a evolução tectono-metamórfica da Formação São Tomé, uma das unidades metassedimentares pertencente ao Grupo Rio Doce, no Orógeno Araçuaí. Essa unidade, de origem pelítica, ocorre em uma faixa com direção geral aproximadamente N-S, com vergência para NE, contrária ao cráton São Francisco neste setor do orógeno. Possui como litotipo principal quartzo-mica xisto, com proporções variadas de granada, estaurolita, sillimanita e plagioclásio. Duas fases deformacionais estão registradas através de uma foliação continua S1 do tipo clivagem de fratura e uma foliação S2 de clivagem de crenulação. As relações texturais indicam que parte das fases minerais se cristalizaram tanto durante o evento deformacional como em condições ausentes de tensão deviatórica, e registro de condições de pico metamórfico de 6 kbar e 650 °C. Os dados geocronológicos foram obtidos em monazita por meio de datações Th-UPb em microssonda eletrônica. Foram identificadas três populações distintas: (i) A população mais antiga de 641±32 Ma, 614±39 Ma e 607±47 Ma, a qual pode representar grãos detríticos de corpos ígneos, não mais aflorantes, relacionados a um possível estagio pré-colisional ou, tratar-se de monazitas metamórficas formadas em um primeiro evento térmico; (ii) População com idades intermediárias entre 560±32 Ma e 559±29 Ma, compatíveis com as idades do ápice metamórfico regional; (iii) População mais jovem de idades entre 501±28 Ma e 491±34 Ma, condizentes com a formação concomitante à geração dos corpos ígneos tardios. Ainda que não esteja esclarecido se essas idades estão relacionadas a eventos metamórficos distintos ou são reflexo da baixa taxa de resfriamento do orógeno, os três grupos de monazita com idades distintas estão bem estabelecidos.The present dissertation presents an investigation on the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the São Tomé Formation, one of the metasedimentary units belonging to the Rio Doce Group, in the Araçuaí Orogen. This unit, of pelitic origin, occurs in a band with general direction approximately N-S, with vergence for NE, contrary to the São Francisco craton in this sector of the orogen. It has quartz-mica schist as main lithotype, with varying proportions of grarnet, staurolite, sillimanite and plagioclase. Two deformational phases are recorded through a continuous foliation S1 of the fracture cleavage type and a foliation S2 of crenulation cleavage. The textural relations indicate that part of the mineral phases crystallized both during the deformational event and in conditions absent of deviatore voltage, and record of metamorphic peak conditions of 6 kbar and 650 ° C. The geochronological data were obtained in monazite by means of Th-U-Pb dating in electron microprobe. Three distinct populations were identified: (i) The oldest population of 641 ± 32 Ma, 614 ± 39 Ma and 607 ± 47 Ma, which may represent detrital grains of igneous bodies, no longer outcrops, related to a possible pre- collisional or, being metamorphic monazites formed in a first thermal event; (ii) Populations with intermediate ages between 560 ± 32 Ma and 559 ± 29 Ma, compatible with regional metamorphic apex ages; (iii) Younger population between 501 ± 28 Ma and 491 ± 34 Ma, consistent with the formation concomitant with the generation of late igneous bodies. Although it is unclear whether these ages are related to distinct metamorphic events or are reflective of the low orogenic cooling rate, the three monazite groups of different ages are well established.
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Marsden, Ruby Connemara. "Further Development and Testing of the Combined U-Thdisequilibrium/ U-Pb and (U-Th)/He Zircon Dating Method and its Application to Quaternary Volcanic Rocks." Thesis, Curtin University, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88743.
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Volcanic eruptions that are <1 Ma are significant for geological and archaeological investigations, however these eruptions can be challenging to date. Zircon double-dating (ZDD) is one of the few techniques that can be used to date young volcanic rocks, and combines the (U-Th)/He method with individual zircon crystallisation ages to yield eruption ages. This thesis presents several methodological improvements to the ZDD methodology and applies it to two case studies.
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Savignano, Elisa. "Apatite (U-Th)/He and Fission Track thermochronometry in the Northern Patagonian Andes: New insights into the exhumation history of the thrust belt foreland sector." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3421962.
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The study of the Cretaceous–Cenozoic evolution of the North Patagonian Andes represents a great opportunity to investigate the effects of coupling between deep lithospheric processes and near-surface deformation. Despite the general along-strike continuity, this mountain belt is characterized by a pronounced internal tectonic segmentation (marked by the variable position of the magmatic arc and of the deformation front to the east). Thus, this plate margin results in a more complex configuration with respect to the simplified notion of “Andean-type” subduction system.
Being located in the retro-wedge of the Andes, this sector of the Southern Cordillera experienced a complex evolution characterized by alternating flat- and steep-slab subduction stages, which controlled shortening and extension episodes in the overriding plate. Furthermore, the deformation in this whole retroarc sector varied not only in time (i.e. with major 'cycles' of mountain building and orogenic collapse), but also in space, due to the variable transmission of horizontal compressive stress away from the orogen, that produced an irregular unroofing pattern, recorded by obtained low-temperature (low-T) thermochronometric ages. Indeed, low-T thermochronological systems are ideally suited for detecting events involving rocks in the uppermost part of the crust because they record time and rates of cooling related to exhumation of the top few kilometers of the crust.
In this study, apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and apatite fission track (AFT) dating are integrated with structural methods in the region located between 40° and 44°S. Two fieldwork periods were carried out throughout the Neuquén, Rio Negro, and Chubut Provinces in order to sample for thermochronological analyses and conduct structural surveys. These methods allowed us comparing the exhumation patterns both between the frontal part of the orogen and its adjacent foreland, and in the same morpho-structural domain at different latitudes.
A total of 48 samples have been collected, processed and analyzed. AHe dating was performed at the University of Paris Sud, while AFT dating was done at the University of Padua. Detailed structural surveys were mainly conducted in the less studied zones of the foreland, and in the entire studied area to check major structures. Integrating the different methods allowed us to unravel the complex tectonic scenario characterizing the study area. Three balanced and sequentially restored cross-sections have been integrated with thermochronological information in order to produce a thermo-kinematic model along two different transects located at 40° and 42°S. To do this, the analyzed transects were processed with FetKin, a dedicated software for forward modeling of thermochronometric ages and age prediction along the present-day profile. This in turn, was used to validate the proposed tectonic scenario. New AFT and AHe data obtained in this study highlight two major tectonic events that occurred in North Patagonia: a Late Cretaceous to Paleogene inversion and exhumation stage, that involved the entire fold-and-thrust belt–foreland basin system, and a Miocene-Pliocene inversion stage of focused exhumation in the Andean fold-and-thrust belt. The suggested tectonic scenario was successfully tested with FetKin along the two transects, allowing us to unravel the role and extent of each tectonic stage that occurred since the Mesozoic.
The recorded pattern may be interpreted as the result of a variable degree of propagation of the deformation from the Andean chain to the foreland. This appears to be controlled by two main parameters: (i) slab configuration (i.e. steep- vs. flat-subduction, which plays a fundamental role in foreland deformation), and (ii) convergence rate between the Pacific and South-America plates, which rules shortening and exhumation processes in the fold-and-thrust belt.Lo studio dell’evoluzione Cretacico–Cenozoica delle Ande Nord Patagoniche offre l’opportunità di comprendere le relazioni intercorrenti tra processi profondi riguardanti la dinamica della litosfera e la deformazione più superficiale che coinvolge la crosta. Benché la catena andina sia caratterizzata da un generale andamento lineare nord-sud, nel dettaglio essa è fortemente segmentata da un punto di vista tettonico, come si evince dalla posizione variabile dell’arco magmatico e del fronte di deformazione verso le zone di avampaese. Pertanto, questo margine di placca risulta avere una complessa configurazione, che va oltre la comune nozione di sistema di subduzione di “tipo andino”. Localizzato nella zona di retrocatena, il settore Nord Patagonico della Cordigliera ha subito una complessa evoluzione, caratterizzata dall’alternanza di fasi di subduzione a basso e alto angolo, che ha controllato le fasi rispettivamente di raccorciamento e di estensione in corrispondenza della placca superiore. La variabilità deformativa in questa zona di retroarco è stata sia temporale—dunque legata a fasi di orogenesi e collasso della catena—sia spaziale, data la variabile trasmissione dello stress compressivo verso le zone esterne dell’orogene. La termocronologia di bassa temperatura è in grado di registrare i pattern irregolari di denudamento risultanti, essendo molto sensibile alle variazioni entro i primi chilometri della crosta. Tali sistemi termocronometrici sono ideali per identificare eventi tettonici a livello crostale, poiché sono in grado di registrare il momento e la velocità del raffreddamento legato all’esumazione. In particolare, i metodi (U-Th)/He (AHe) e tracce di fissione (AFT), entrambi su apatite, sono stati integrati in questa tesi con i metodi strutturali. L’area investigata è la regione ubicata tra 40° and 44°S, nel nord della Patagonia argentina. Durante le due campagne, condotte nelle Province di Neuquén, di Rio Negro e del Chubut, sono state campionate le rocce sulle quali compiere le analisi termocronologiche di bassa temperatura e sono stati analizzati dal punto di vista strutturale i lineamenti tettonici più importanti. Questi metodi hanno permesso sia di comparare i pattern di esumazione nella parte frontale della catena e nell’adiacente avampaese sia, al contempo, di comparare le differenze, a diverse latitudini, all’interno di uno stesso dominio morfo-strutturale. Complessivamente, sono stati raccolti, processati e analizzati quarantotto campioni. Le analisi (U-Th)/He sono state eseguite presso l’Università di Parigi Sud mentre quelle di tracce di fissione presso l’Università di Padova. Dal punto di vista geologico-strutturale, le maggiori strutture dell’area di studio sono state rilevate sul terreno e analizzate nel dettaglio, con particolare attenzione nelle zone meno studiate dell’avampaese. Infine, per un’analisi più approfondita di questo complesso scenario i due metodi sono stati integrati. Infatti, sono state costruite tre sezioni bilanciate e retrodeformate integrate con le informazioni termocronologiche al fine di produrre un modello termo-cinematico lungo due diversi transetti posti a 40° e 44°S, mediante l’utilizzo di un software dedicato in grado di modellare le età termocronometriche e fare previsione di queste lungo il profilo topografico odierno, che, a sua volta, è stato usato per validare lo scenario tettonico proposto. I nuovi dati AFT e AHe ottenuti nell’area di studio evidenziano due eventi tettonici principali interessanti l’area settentrionale della Patagonia: una fase d’inversione ed esumazione tra il tardo Cretacico e il Paleogene, che ha coinvolto l’intero sistema dalla catena all’avampaese, e una successiva, Mio-Pliocenica, in cui l’esumazione si è concentrata nella zona di catena. Questo scenario tettonico proposto è stato con successo testato lungo i due transetti analizzati attraverso FetKin, permettendo di chiarire il ruolo e l’entità di ogni fase tettonica avvenuta dal Mesozoico. Il pattern di esumazione così ottenuto è stato interpretato come il risultato del variabile grado di propagazione della deformazione dalla catena andina verso l’avampaese. Quest’ultimo sembra essere controllato principalmente da due parametri: (i) la configurazione della placca in subduzione, in altre parole la sua geometria più o meno orizzontale che gioca un ruolo fondamentale nella deformazione dell’avampaese, e (ii) la velocità di convergenza tra le placche pacifica e sud americana, che governa i processi di raccorciamento ed esumazione nella catena a pieghe e sovrascorrimenti.
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Airaghi, Laura. "Etude pétro-chronologique de la chaîne des Longmen Shan (Tibet oriental) : héritage géologique et implications pour la géodynamique actuelle." Thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes (ComUE), 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017GREAU029/document.
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Un des enjeux majeurs en Sciences de la Terre est la compréhension des mécanismes de déformation de la lithosphère continentale dans des zones de convergence. Le plateau Tibétain constitue un laboratoire naturel idéal pour l'étude des processus crustaux profonds actifs dans ces contextes, du fait de sa superficie et de son altitude remarquables. Le soulèvement et l'épaississement de la croûte Tibétaine ont été classiquement attribués aux effets de la collision Inde-Asie Tertiaire. Cependant, cette interprétation a été récemment mise en question par une série d’observations géologiques et géophysiques non concordantes, à différents endroits du plateau.L'objectif de cette thèse est de quantifier l’importance de l’héritage géologique dans la déformation à long-terme et à court-terme d’une chaîne active, en déchiffrant les différentes étapes de la structuration des Longmen Shan, la bordure la plus énigmatique du plateau Tibétain. Dans la chaîne des Longmen Shan la croûte Tibétaine est très épaissie (>60 km) et l'activité tectonique est localisée le long des failles d’échelle lithosphérique, comme démontré par les séismes de Wenchuan 2008 (Mw 7.9) et de Lushan 2013 (Mw 6.6). Un fort gradient topographique est présent, bien que les taux de convergence mesurés par GPS soient très faibles (<3 mm/an). Ces caractéristiques ne sont pas explicables par un modèle unique de déformation crustale, ce qui suggère une forte contribution de l'héritage géologique acquis avant la collision Inde-Asie dans la structure actuelle de la chaîne.Une étude pétro-chronologique qui combine des observations microstructurales avec la cartographie chimique des minéraux majeurs et accessoires, la modélisation thermodynamique et la datation in-situ par méthode 40Ar/39Ar et U-Pb/Th sur mica et allanite a été appliquée aux roches métamorphique à l’affleurement de chaque côté des faille majeures. L’analyse haute résolution montre que les minéraux métamorphiques dans la matrice des sédiments à grenat provenant des unités internes de la chaîne préservent dans leur composition le témoignage de différentes étapes du métamorphisme. Ceci s’explique par un rééquilibrage chimique incomplet en raison de la variabilité des fluides disponibles au cours du métamorphisme. Les différentes étapes du métamorphisme sont aussi enregistrées dans le signal 40Ar/39Ar des micas et dans la composition des minéraux accessoires.La compréhension des processus pétrologiques à petite échelle a été intégrée aux observations de terrain afin de quantifier l’épaississement de la croûte Tibétaine au Mésozoïque (> 30 km) et de mettre en évidence un saut métamorphique >150°C à travers les failles majeures, hérité de la tectonique Mésozoïque. Si les unités internes de la chaîne ont été fortement déformées, découplées du socle cristallin et métamorphisées à T ~580-600°C (P ~11 kbar), les unités externes apparaissent moins déformées et épaissies (T< 400°C, P< 5 kbar). Une exhumation partielle du socle depuis c. 20 km de profondeur a été également documentée à 120-140 Ma et reliée à un évènement tectonique méconnu auparavant.Cette thèse a ainsi permis de quantifier la durée et les conditions qui caractérisent les différentes étapes de la maturation de la chaîne: les unités internes atteignent la relaxation thermique 40 Ma après le début de la propagation du prisme orogénique. Le socle est réactivé 40 Ma plus tard, lorsqu’il atteint des conditions thermiques proches de celles de sa couverture sédimentaire. L’héritage géologique Mésozoïque contrôle fortement l’état thermique et rhéologique de la croûte supérieure au moment de la réactivation Cénozoïque ainsi que la structure actuelle de la chaîne.L’étude petro-chronologique de différents segments de la chaîne a aussi mis en évidence une segmentation métamorphique héritée du Mésozoïque qui correspond à la segmentation actuelle des failles. Ceci suggère que des structures héritées pourraient en partie contrôler la localisation des séismes récentsOne of the major challenges in Earth Sciences is understanding how the continental lithosphere deforms in convergent settings, according to which timescales. For its elevation and extension the Tibetan plateau is an ideal natural laboratory for the study of deep crustal processes in active convergent settings. The rise and thickening of the Tibetan plateau has generally been related to the only collision between the Eurasian and Indian plates during the Cenozoic. However, this interpretation has been recently put into question by apparently contrasting geophysical and geological features observed at different locations on the plateau.The aim of this PhD is to quantify the importance of the geological inheritance in the long-term and short-term deformation of an active thrust belt, focusing on the Longmen Shan orogen, the most enigmatic border of the Tibetan plateau. In the Longmen Shan (eastern Tibet) the Tibetan crust is over thickened (>60 km), the tectonic activity is localized along lithospheric faults -as demonstrated by the occurrence of the Mw 7.9 Wenchuan (2008) and Mw 6.6 Lushan (2013) earthquakes- and a high topography survives despite low convergence rates measured by GPS (<3 mm/yr). These observations are hardly reconcilable in a unique model of crustal deformation, suggesting a contribution of the geological inheritance from the geological history preceding the India-Asia collision.A petro-chronological approach that combines microstructural observations, compositional mapping of major and accessory mineral phases, thermodynamic modelling, in-situ 40Ar/39Ar dating, Ar diffusion modelling and in-situ U/Pb-Th allanite dating was applied to metamorphic rocks on each side of the major faults that strike parallel to the belt. This high-resolution study shows that in garnet-bearing rocks of the internal units of the belt matrix minerals record different stages of the metamorphic path in their composition. This is due to an incomplete chemical re-equilibration explained by a variable fluid availability during metamorphism. Different stages of metamorphism and fluid-assisted reactions sequences are also recorded in the 40Ar/39Ar signal of micas and in the composition and textures of the accessory phases.The understanding of petrological processes at the small scale was combined with field observations to quantify the Mesozoic thickness of the Tibetan crust at > 30 km and to unravel a metamorphic jump of greater than 150°C across the major faults, inherited from the Mesozoic tectonics. While internal units of the belt were strongly deformed, decoupled from the basement and metamorphosed at T ~ 580-600°C (P ~11 kbar), external units were less deformed and experienced lower temperatures conditions (T < 400°C, P < 5 kbar). The partial exhumation of the crystalline basement from c. 20 km depth along the major fault (in both internal and external units) occurred at c. 120-140 Ma during a previously poorly documented tectonic event.The multi-method approach applied on a wide geographical area and on a large time interval enabled to quantify the rates and conditions of the different stages of the maturation of the belt; internal units reached the thermal relaxation at ~600°C 40 Ma after the beginning of the propagation of the orogenic load. The basement was re-activated 40 Ma later, at similar thermal conditions than its sedimentary cover. The Mesozoic geological inheritance is therefore a key element in the present structure of the belt and strongly controlled the rheological and structural state of the upper crust at the moment of the Cenozoic re-activation.The petro-chronological study of different segments of the belt showed an along-strike metamorphic segmentation of the Longmen Shan inherited from the Mesozoic. This segmentation corresponds to the present fault segmentation, underlying the potential role of inherited structure in controlling the geographic distribution of the recent earthquakes
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Finné, Martin. "Climate in the eastern Mediterranean during the Holocene and beyond – A Peloponnesian perspective." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi och kvartärgeologi (INK), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-108046.
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This thesis contributes increased knowledge about climate variability during the late Quaternary in the eastern Mediterranean. Results from a paleoclimate review reveal that regional wetter conditions from 6000 to 5400 years BP were replaced by a less wet period from 5400 to 4600 years BP and to fully arid conditions around 4600 years BP. The data available, however, show that there is not enough evidence to support the notion of a widespread climate event with rapidly drying conditions in the region around 4200 years ago. The review further highlights the lack of paleoclimate data from the archaeologically rich Peloponnese Peninsula. This gap is addressed in this thesis by the provision of new paleoclimate records from the Peloponnese. One stalagmite from Kapsia Cave and two stalagmites from Glyfada Cave were dated and analyzed for stable oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopes. The Glyfada record covers a period from ~78 ka to ~37 ka and shows that the climate in this region responded rapidly to changes in temperatures over Greenland. During Greenland stadial (interstadial) conditions colder (warmer) and drier (wetter) conditions are reflected by depleted (enriched) δ13C-values in the speleothems. The Kapsia record covers a period from ~2900 to ~1100 years BP. A comparison between the modern stalagmite top isotopes and meteorological data shows that a main control on stalagmite δ18O is wet season precipitation amount. The δ18O record from Kapsia indicates cyclical humidity changes of close to 500 years, with rapid shifts toward wetter conditions followed by slowly developing aridity. Superimposed on this signal is a centennial signal of precipitation variability. A second speleothem from Kapsia with multiple horizons of fine sediments from past flood events intercalated with the calcite is used to develop a new, quick and non-destructive method for tracing flood events in speleothems by analyzing a thick section with an XRF core scanner.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Accepted.
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Cros, Alexandre. "Influence des propriétés cristallochimiques de la calcite sur la diffusion de l'hélium et essai de datation (U-Th-Sm)/He de calcite filonienne et de remplissage de brèche." Phd thesis, Université Paris Sud - Paris XI, 2012. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00719709.
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La datation des carbonates est un enjeu important en géosciences car ces minéraux sont présents dans tous les grands cycles superficiels terrestres. Actuellement, l'âge de formation des cristaux de calcite de failles peut être déterminé par la méthode de déséquilibre U-Th ou par la méthode U-Pb. La potentialité de la méthode (U-Th-Sm)/He a été envisagée à partir des premiers résultats de diffusion de l'hélium dans les carbonates (Copeland et al. 2007) qui montrent que l'hélium est rétentif à basse température, inférieure à 70°C. Le développement de cette méthode nécessite une identification des propriétés cristallochimiques et du comportement de la calcite afin de discuter la validité des âges obtenus. Une zone de déformation au contact d'une faille normale du fossé d'effondrement de Gondrecourt à Augeville (Est du bassin de Paris) et des cristaux de calcite géodique des argilites de Tournemire (Aveyron) ont été étudiés. Une étude pétrographique et géochimique (analyse des isotopes stables δ18O et δ13C et des éléments mineurs et traces) a permis d'identifier les phases de remplissage de la zone de déformation d'Augeville. Sur les phases de remplissages une étude cristallographique par DRX (diffraction des rayons X) et ATG (analyse thermogravimétrique) a permis d'identifier les propriétés mécaniques de la calcite à différentes températures. Des expériences de diffusion de l'hélium ont été conduites selon un protocole différent de celui de Copeland et al. (2007) : temps de chauffage inférieur à 12 heures au lieu de paliers de chauffage de plusieurs heures à semaines. Des datations (U-Th-Sm)/He ont été réalisées sur toutes les phases de remplissage de la zone de déformation ainsi que sur les cristaux géodiques de Tournemire. Les résultats pour Gondrecourt mettent en évidence une zone de déformation à remplissage calcitique pluriphasée qui marque chaque étape de l'évolution tectonique de la zone. Il s'agit majoritairement de remplissages de brèches hydrauliques à brèches chaotiques avec, pour finir, la mise en place de filons. Sur ces minéralisations les résultats cristallochimiques montrent que lorsqu'ils sont soumis à une température croissante, de température ambiante à 400°C, ou sur le long terme à 200°C, il y a un accroissement du nombre de microfissures qui aboutit à la formation de clivage. L'évolution cristallochimique sous l'effet de la température présente des modifications structurales pour chacune des phases étudiées. Les expériences de diffusion dépendent de ces microfissures et de cette évolution microstructurale. Ces résultats mettent en évidence les mécanismes de diffusion de l'hélium dans la calcite à travers de multiples domaines de diffusion différents de la taille du grain. Ces domaines de diffusion dépendent de l'état microstructural de l'échantillon. Les résultats de datation (U-Th-Sm)/He présentent une large dispersion de 0,1 Ma à 35 Ma pour la zone de déformation de Gondrecourt et de 0,4 Ma à 20 Ma pour les cristaux géodiques de Tournemire. La variation des âges est en partie liée à la position des cristaux de calcite dans la succession paragénétique qui entraine un continuum de fracturation qui génère de multiples domaines de diffusion dans les cristaux de calcite.
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CRUZ, ROSANA PETINATTI DA. "DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODOLOGY FOR CORALS AND SPELEOTHEMS DATING USING THE 230-TH/234-U METHOD, THROUGH CHROMATOGRAPHIC SEPARATION AND QUANTIFICATION BY ALPHA SPECTROMETRY AND FIA-ICP-MS." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2006. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=8544@1.
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CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOO presente trabalho aborda as determinações de idades de espeleotemas e corais, usando o método de desequilíbrio da série urânio, mais especificamente, o método de deficiência de filhos daughter deficient DD, em particular o método 230Th/234U. Foram testadas diferentes metodologias empregando separação por extração cromatográfica e quantificação por espectrometria alfa e ICP-MS. Foram testados três procedimentos diferentes: separação em batelada empregando-se colunas com Tri-octil óxido de fosfina (TOPO) em silica- gel e a coluna TRU comercializada pela Eichrom(R), composta de octil-N,N,- isobutil carbamoil óxido de fosfina dissolvido em fosfato de tributila (TBP) e quantificação por espectrometria alfa; separação em batelada com os mesmos sistemas mas quantificação por ICP-MS e separação em linha (flow injection) com cartuchos de TRU e quantificação por ICP-MS. As metodologias desenvolvidas foram validadas empregando-se amostras de referência certificada, IAEA-327 (solo) tendo sido obtidas incertezas de 2% para o método empregando a separação em linha (flow injection) com cartuchos de TRU e quantificação por ICP-MS. As amostras de espeleotema analisadas foram coletadas no Carste de Lagoa Santa, MG, pelo grupo do Prof. Luis Piló (USP) e suas idades variaram de 15,2±2,2 kanos a >350 kanos. Estes valores estão na faixa dos valores encontrados na literatura para amostras de espeleotema coletadas pelo mesmo grupo na mesma região. A amostra de coral, coletada na Bacia de Campos (RJ) era da espécie Lophelia pertusa, foi subdividida segundo suas ramificações (primária, secundária e terciária) e o ramo principal foi datado em 9,4 ± 0,3 kanos.
This paper discusses the age determination of speleothems and corals using Uranium-series- imbalance method, more specifically the daughter deficient method - DD, particularly the 230Th/234U method. Different methodologies were tested using chromatographic extraction separation and quantification by alpha spectrometry and ICP-MS. Three different procedures were tested: batch separation using columns with Tri-N-Octylphosphine Oxide (TOPO) in silica gel and TRU column commercialized by Eichrom(R) composed of octyl-N,N,-isobutyl carbamoylphosphine oxide dissolved in tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and with quantification by alpha spectrometry; batch separation with the same systems, but with quantification by ICP-MS; and flow injection with TRU cartridges and qualification by ICP-MS. The methodologies developed were verified using certified reference samples, IAEA-327 (soil) with 2% imprecision rate for the method using flow injection with TRU cartridges and qualification by ICP-MS. The speleothem samples analyzed were collected at Carste de Lagoa Santa, in the state of Minas Gerais, by Prof. Luis Piló`s (USP) group, and their ages varied from 15,2±2,2 kyears to >350 kyears. These numbers are within the range found in the literature for speleothem samples collected by the same group in the same region. The coral sample, collected at Bacia de Campos (RJ), and from the Lophelia pertusa species, was subdivided according to its ramifications (primary, secondary and tertiary), and the main ramification dated 9,4 ± 0,3 kyears.
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Didier, Amélie. "Comportement géochimique du chronomètre U-Th-Pb dans la monazite : approche par analyses in-situ au LA-ICP-MS." Phd thesis, Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00966588.
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La richesse en Th et en U de la monazite en fait un excellent géochronomètre pour dater les roches magmatiques et métamorphiques de la croûte terrestre. Peu sensible à la diffusion du Pb dans sa structure cristalline, elle peut enregistrer des évènements géologiques de haute température sans risque de remise à zéro de son géochronomètre. Réservoir principal des actinides et des lanthanides, elle participe à de nombreuses réactions minéralogiques, faisant aussi d'elle un très bon traceur pétrogénétique. Coupler sa chimie à son isotopie permet donc d'interpréter précisément la nature des processus géologiques dont elle enregistre l'âge. L'étude de trois objets géologiques distincts a permis de montrer que la monazite est très sensible aux interactions avec les fluides. Ils vont induire sa dissolution partielle ou totale, suivie de la recristallisation de nouveaux grains. De multiples paramètres vont influencer son comportement face au fluide. Ainsi, à basse température (350°C - 450°C) dans un microgranite, un fluide riche en fluor et carbonates va favoriser la dissolution-précipitation de la monazite, alors qu'un fluide riche en éléments alcalins n'aura aucun effet sur elle. Par contre, à plus haute température (> 600°C) dans des roches métapélitiques, ce même fluide va induire sa dissolution-précipitation. En fonction de la mobilité du Pb, du Th et de l'U, le mécanisme de dissolution-précipitation peut avoir différents impacts sur le géochronomètre : ainsi, l'âge des grains recristallisés peut soit correspondre à l'âge du grain initial, soit dater l'interaction avec le fluide, soit n'avoir aucune signification géologique. Les systèmes isotopiques U-Pb et Th-Pb peuvent également être affectés par l'incorporation de Pb commun dans la monazite lors de sa cristallisation (jusqu'à plusieurs centaines de ppm), ce qui va artificiellement vieillir les âges enregistrés. L'ensemble de ces observations montre que l'âge enregistré par la monazite s'interprète au cas par cas. Dans l'avenir, l'optimisation de l'utilisation de la monazite comme géochronomètre doit passer par (1) une amélioration des techniques d'analyses (augmentation de la résolution spatiale pour résoudre des problèmes géologiques à l'échelle nanométrique, standardisation avec des monazites homogènes) et (2) un couplage de différents types d'analyses (chimie, datation, isotopes de l'oxygène). Ceci devrait permettre d'interpréter aux mieux les âges qu'elle enregistre.
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Oostingh, Kornelia Fieneke. "Ultra-Precise 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology: Development of 38Ar cosmogenic exposure and olivine (U-Th)/He dating techniques; and deciphering the geochemical evolution of the Newer Volcanic Province, SE Australia." Thesis, Curtin University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53004.
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In this study, existing (40Ar/39Ar) and underdeveloped (terrestrial cosmogenic 38Ar exposure dating and olivine (U-Th)/He dating) geochronology techniques are used and improved to better understand the igneous geology and landscape evolution of Australia. It is shown that an integral approach of geochemistry and ultra-precise geochronology, using the new generation multi-collector mass spectrometers, is of paramount importance to decipher the volcanic history of the small, intraplate Newer Volcanic Province in SE Australia.
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Berger, Aaron Louis. "A Thermochronological Investigation of Orogenic Architecture, Kinematics, and Tectonic-Climatic Interactions within the St. Elias Orogen, Alaska." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26628.
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The kinematics and architecture of orogenic systems may be heavily influenced by climate, but little research has focused on the long-term effects of glacial erosion on orogenesis. Low-temperature thermochronometry and subsidiary structural, earthquake relocation, and offshore seismic reflection data from the St. Elias orogen are the basis for a new architectural model and demonstrate an association between glacial denudation and orogenic evolution. These data show that exhumation and deformation within the St. Elias orogen are focused across a thin-skinned fold and thrust belt on the windward flank, whereas the leeward flank functions as a deformational backstop. A previously unrecognized structure beneath the Bagley ice field separates these domains with south-side-up motion. This structure is interpreted to be a backthrust, making the orogen doubly-vergent. Suggestive of accelerated fault motion in response to climate change, bedrock cooling rates within the hanging wall of the backthrust and across the entire subaerial wedge accelerated ~ten-fold coeval with the onset of intense glacial conditions. Within the orogenic wedge, the zone of highest Quaternary exhumation (5 km/myr (±25%)) is focused around a narrow zone where the glacial equilibrium line altitude (ELA) intersects mean topography. This zone of rapid exhumation, not present prior to the onset of intense glacial conditions, cuts across the structural trend of the orogen and is more narrowly focused than the zone of orographic precipitation. Augmented glacial erosion around glacial ELA also coincided with a regional shift in deformation away from prominent forethrusts including the North American-Yakutat terrane suture (Chugach St. Elias fault) and the seaward deformation front (Pamplona zone). Accelerated denudation across the subaerial wedge thus appears to have forced the redistribution of strain along the backthrust and a series of forethrusts that lie beneath the zone of highest glacial flux, which in turn are systematically truncated by the backthrust. In a cause and effect response, the expansion of glaciers therefore appears to have resulted in an orogen scale structural reorganization and a narrowing of the orogenic wedge to preserve topographic slope. The focusing of long-term erosion around glacial ELA and the structural response of the orogenic wedge to Cenozoic climate change have not previously been observed in a real-world orogenic system and imply a high degree of coupling between climate and tectonics in this glacially-dominated orogen.Ph. D.
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Boyd, Meighan. "Speleothems from Warm Climates : Holocene Records from the Caribbean and Mediterranean Regions." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-121750.
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This thesis contributes to increased knowledge on Holocene climate and environmental variability from two complex and sparsely studied areas. Using a speleothem from Gasparee Cave, Trinidad, as a paleoclimate archive, the local expression of the 8.2 ka (thousand years before 1950) climate event and associated patterns of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and rainfall is provided. Subsequent speleothem studies using multi-proxy analysis of stalagmites from Kapsia Cave and Alepotrypa Cave, Greece, provide records of climate, vegetation and human induced changes in the cave environment during parts of the Holocene. The speleothems from the well-studied Neolithic habitation site, Alepotrypa Cave, have produced a climate and habitation record which covers the period of 6.3-1.0 ka. The cave was inhabited between 8.0-5.2 ka and was closed by a tectonic event, which has preserved the settlement. The stable oxygen record shows the first well-dated and robust expression of the 4.2 ka dry event in the Peloponnese, places the timing of the 3.2 ka dry event within an ongoing dry period, and shows a final dry event at 1.6 ka. The North Atlantic as well as more regional drivers, such as the North Sea Caspian Pattern Index is proposed to, in a complex interplay, govern many of the climate trends and events observed. Trace element variation after the site is abandoned indicate what is interpreted as two volcanic eruptions, the Minoan eruption of Thera (Santorini) around 3.6 ka and the 2.7 ka eruption of Somma (Vesuvius). Variations in trace elements during the habitation period show clear human influence, indicating an association with specific cave activities. One of the most interesting prospects for continued work on Alepotrypa Cave is this successful marriage of speleothem studies and archeology. A framework of dates which constrain some behavior of people living in the cave is only the beginning, and there is great potential to continue finding new clues in the speleothem data.Denna avhandling bidrar till ökad kunskap om klimatets variationer och miljön i två geografiskt skilda områden på låga breddgrader och under tidsperioder inom den Holocena epoken. Genom att använda en droppsten (stalagmit) från Gasparee-grottan, Trinidad, som ett paleoklimatarkiv, har det bland annat varit möjligt att visa att Trinidad upplevde torrare förhållanden under den snabba klimatförändring som observerats ske för 8200 år sedan på många platser i världen. Denna torrare klimatsituation i Trinidad föreslås vara ett resultat av en sydlig förflyttning av den intertropiska konvergenszonen. Övriga stalagmiter som studerats för denna avhandling kommer från Kapsia-grottan och Alepotrypa-grottan som finns på Peloponnesos-halvön i Grekland. Resultaten därifrån speglar dels klimat- och vegetationsvariatoner och dels graden av mänsklig aktivitet, under tiden för ca 8000 år sedan till för 1000 år sedan. Alepotrypa-grottan är känd för att vara en av de större Neolitiska boplatserna i Grekland. Isotop- och spårämnesanalyser av stalagmiterna har bidragit med ny kunskap om tidpunkten för mänsklig aktivitet, hur människorna påverkade grott-miljön samt hur klimatet varierat efter det att grottan, genom en tektonisk händelse, stängdes för människans inverkan. Snabba klimatförändringar, för 4200 och 3200 år sedan, observerade i andra regioner, rekonstrueras här för första gången på Peloponnesos. En snabb förändring mot torrare förhållanden observeras även för 1600 år sedan. De klimatstyrande processerna föreslås vara en kombination av storskaliga processer som den nordatlantiska oscillationen och mer regionala processer som det så kallade North Sea Caspian Pattern Index. Variationer i spårämnen i stalagmiterna efter att Alepotrypa-grottan stängdes kan kopplas till två vulkaniska utbrott, nämligen det Minoiska utbrottet av Thera på ön Santorini kring 3600 år sedan och utbrottet av Somma (Vesuvius) kring 2700 år sedan. Spårämnesvariationer under bo-perioden ger tydliga indikationer på människans påverkan på grottmiljön och som delvis kan länkas till specifika aktiviteter, som eldning av dynga i grottan. Avhandlingen är ett resultat av en framgångsrik kombination av klimatstudier och arkeologisk kunskap och utgör ett viktigt underlag för fördjupat interdisciplinärt forskningssamarbete i Alepotrypa-grottan.
At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript. Paper 6: Manuscript.
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Oliveira, Raphael Logato de. "Esclerocronologia, geoquímica e registro climático em coral Siderastrea stellata do Atol das Rocas, RN, Brasil." Niterói, 2017. https://appdesenv.uff.br/riuff/handle/1/4454.
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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica, Niterói, RJ
A taxa de crescimento de uma colônia do coral endêmico brasileiro Siderastrea stellata, proveniente da Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas (3° 45’ S / 33° 40’ O – 3° 55’ S / 33° 50’ O), baseada em conta gem de bandas de crescimento e datação absoluta pelo método U-Th, seguidas de analises geoquímicas e isotópicas, revelaram uma variablidade das Temperaturas de Superfície do Mar (TSM) durante os últimos 39 anos. Os resultados demonstram uma forte correlação entre o crescimento do coral e a razão Sr/Ca, como também entre o Sr/Ca e U/Ca. O crescimento, Sr/Ca e U/Ca indicaram um forte sinal com frequência decadal, que é correspondente a um dos principais regimes de variabilidade do Atlântico Tropical Sul. Além disto, pode ser dito que o sinal do δ18O apresentou uma boa coerência com a ZCIT, indicando um potencial para futuros estudos sobre flutuações de salinidade. Porém, a falta de correlação entre os parametros geoquimicos com a TSM pode ser atribuída à limitação dos registros instrumentais de TSM disponíveis para a área de estudo (PIRATA), que são provenientes de bóias oceanográficas espaçadamente distribuídas. Assim, este estudo destaca alguns importantes fatores: a necessidade de se obter os registros de TSM in situ, para que seja possível estabelecer boas correlações entre esta e os traçadores; a clara relação entre o crescimento e Sr/Ca, sugerindo que este traçador pode não ser regulado somente pela TSM no caso de S. stellata; e a predominância de influências de variabilidades decadais e semi-decadais para esta região
One colony growth rate of an endemic Brazilian coral Sideratrea stellata from Atol das Rocas Biological reserve (3° 45’ S / 33° 4 0’ O – 3° 55’ S / 33° 50’ O), based on growth band counting and U-Th dating method, followed by geochemical analysis, revealed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variability for the last 39 years. Results show a strong correlation between coral growth and Sr/Ca ratio, and also strong correlation between Sr/Ca and U/Ca. Growth, Sr/Ca and U/Ca indicate strong signal at decadal frequencies, corresponding to one of major South Tropical Atlantic variability. Moreover, it can be said that δ18O signal has showed good coherence with respect to ITCZ, pointing out to potential future studies about salinity fluctuations. However, the lack of correlation between SST and geochemical tracers can be attributed to instrumental SST data restriction for the study site, which comes from sparsely distributed oceanographic buyos (PIRATA). Insofar, this study highlights some important factors: the need for in situ SST registry in order to establish good correlations for SST and geochemical data; the clear relationship between coral growth and Sr/Ca, suggesting that this ratio may not be regulated by SST only for S. stellata; and the predominance decadal and semi-decadal variabilities at this region.
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Feneyrol, Julien. "Pétrologie, géochimie et genèse des gisements de tsavorite associés aux gneiss et roches calco-silicatées graphiteux de Lemshuku et Namalulu, Tanzanie." Thesis, Université de Lorraine, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012LORR0348/document.
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La tsavorite, grossulaire vert à V-Cr-Mn, est contenue dans des gneiss et roches calco-silicatées graphiteux, souvent associés à des marbres dolomitiques, et appartenant à la ceinture métamorphique néoprotérozoïque mozambicaine. La tsavorite se trouve soit dans des nodules ou des veines de quartz (gisements primaires), soit dans des placers (gisements secondaires). L'étude minéralogique des tsavorites propose un nouveau protocole de certification de leur origine géographique, à partir du rapport V/Cr, de la teneur en Mn et du [delta]18 O. L'étude des gisements de Lemshuku et Namalulu en Tanzanie montre que le métamorphisme des protolithes sédimentaires riches en matière organique et évaporites s'est effectué à P = 7,0 ± 0,4 kbar et T = 677 ± 14°C, à 634 ± 22 Ma (datation U-Th-Pb sur monazite). Le bâti métamorphique s'est refroidi vers 500 Ma (datation 40Ar-39Ar sur muscovite). Deux stades de métasomatose sont reliés à la formation de la tsavorite : (i) une métasomatose de diffusion formant les nodules à P = 5,0-7,4 kbar et T = 580-691°C; (ii) une métasomatose calcique d'infiltration contemporaine de la formation des veines de quartz à P = 3,6-4,9 kbar et T = 505-587°C. Ces dernières sont datées in situ par la méthode Sm-Nd à 606 ± 36 Ma. Les évaporites continentales, déposées dans une sabkha de côte marine avec des sédiments silico-calcaires, sont transformées en tsavorite dans le cas des nodules, alors que les sels fondus sont associés à la formation des veines de quartz. Les minéralisations sont contrôlées par la lithostratigraphie et la tectoniqueTsavorite, a (V, Cr, Mn)-bearing green grossular, is hosted by graphitic gneisses or calc-silicates, often asssociated with dolomitic marbles, and belonging to the Metamorphic Neoproterozoic Mozambique Belt. Tsavorite is found either as nodules or in quartz veins (primary deposits), or in placers (secondary deposits). The mineralogical study of tsavorites suggests a new protocol to certificate their geographical origin, based on the V/Cr ratio, Mn content and delta18O. The study of the Lemshuku and Namalulu deposits in Tanzania has shown that the metamorphism of organic matter-rich and evaporites-rich sedimentary protoliths occurred at P = 7.0 ± 0.4 kbar and T = 677 ± 14°C, at 634 ± 22 Ma (U-Th-Pb dating on monazite). The metamorphic series cooled down at around 500 Ma (40Ar-39Ar dating on muscovite). Two metasomatic stages are linked to the formation of tsavorite : (i) diffusion metasomatism forming nodules at P = 5.0-7.4 kbar and T = 580-691°C; (ii) calcitic infiltration metasomatism forming quartz veins at P = 3.6-4.9 kbar and T = 505-587°C. These last have been dated in situ with Sm-Nd dating at 606 ± 36 Ma. Continental evaporites, deposited in a coastal marine sabkha with (Si, Ca)-bearing sediments, transformed into tsavorite in the case of the nodules, while the molten salts are associated with the formation of the quartz veins. The mineralisations are controlled by lithostratigraphy and structure
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El, Bakili Asmae. "Evolution tectono-metamorphique et chronologique des unités métamorphiques du Rif interne (Beni Bousera, Nord du Maroc)." Thesis, Université Côte d'Azur, 2021. http://www.theses.fr/2021COAZ4034.
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Située à l'extrême-ouest de la Méditerranée occidentale, la chaîne bético-rifaine s’est formée au travers d’une histoire orogénique alpine complexe, impliquant des processus de subduction liés à la convergence entre l’Afrique et l’Eurasie depuis le Crétacé. Une découverte importante de ces quatre dernières décennies d'investigations géologiques, a été la mise en évidence des vestiges d’un événement varisque dans les zones internes de la chaîne. Ces résultats soulignent bien la présence de deux systèmes orogéniques superposés, les zones internes de la chaîne bético-rifaine demeurent donc des zones privilégiées pour étudier l’importance de l’héritage structural et métamorphique dans les réactivations partielles ou totale par les évènements les plus récents. Ce travail est localisé dans le secteur de Beni Bousera, ou affleurent les roches crustales et mantéliques qui forment les unités les plus internes de la chaîne. Il s’appuie sur une étude menée à partir des analyses structurales et pétrologiques, des datations U-Th-Pb sur monazite et 40Ar-39Ar sur des micas et des amphiboles. Il nous permet de résumer l’histoire de la chaîne bético-rifaine de la manière suivante : 1) un événement de HP-HT affecte la base du domaine interne à ca 281 ± 3 Ma. Ces nouvelles données pétrologiques et géochronologiques obtenues dans le Rif interne sont corrélées avec les Bétiques, les Kabylies et le massif de l'Edough en Algérie, la ceinture mauritanienne et les Appalaches. Elles attestent d'un domaine convergent au cours du Carbonifère supérieur- Permien inférieur. Tous ces segments orogéniques font partie des Variscides nord-africains construits à la marge nord-ouest du Gondwana en réponse à une convergence entre cette dernière et la Laurentia. 2) autour de 29-26 Ma, un événement métamorphique avec un gradient de type Barrovien à Abukuma affecte les Sebtides (les unités les plus internes de la chaîne), et il est interprété comme résultant de l'évolution de la plaque supérieure d'une zone de subduction. Cet évènement alpin est caractérisé par un chemin prograde marqué par un réchauffement à la base des Sebtides entre 26 et 22 Ma. De telles conditions reflètent un amincissement et un réchauffement de la croûte liée à la remontée asthénosphérique due au retrait de la plaque plongeante ; cet événement marque le début d’un évènement extensif majeur. 3) Au Miocène inférieur à 22-20 Ma, les zones internes (ou domaine d’Alboran) sont affectées par une extension E-W contemporaine de l’ouverture du bassin d'Alboran dans un contexte arrière-arc, et par l’intrusion de filons granitiques dans les péridotites et les unités métamorphiques crustales du domaine interne. Cet évènement a permis l’exhumation finale des Sebtides. 4) Du Miocène inférieur au Miocène moyen, la chaîne bético-rifaine a acquis sa géométrie arquée (l’arc de Gibraltar) suite à la collision entre les zones internes et les zones externes, attestée par une phase de raccourcissement majeur de direction NE-SW à E-W, et 5) l’arc de Gibraltar est affecté par une phase de raccourcissement N-S ante-Pliocène de direction N-S, qui a modifié considérablement sa géométrieLocated at the extreme tip of the western Mediterranean, the Betic-Rif orogenic system is built through a complex alpine orogenic history involving processes of subduction related to convergence between Africa and Eurasia since the Cretaceous. A remarkable discovery during the last four decades of geological investigations, has been the remains of a variscan event in the internal zones of the belt. These results underline the presence of two superimposed orogenic systems, the internal zones of the belt thus remain a privileged area to study the importance of the structural and the metamorphic heritage in the partial or total reactivation by the most recent events. This work is located in the Beni Bousera sector, where crustal and mantle rocks that form the innermost units of the chain are exposed. Based on structural and petrological analyses, U-Th-Pb dating on monazite and 40Ar-39Ar dating on micas and amphiboles. The history of the Betic-Rif belt can be summarized as it follows: 1) a HP-HT event affects the base of the internal domain at around 281 ± 3 Ma. These new petrological and geochronological data obtained in the internal Rif, are correlated with the Betics, the Kabyle, the Edough massif of Algeria, the Mauritanian, and the Appalachian belts, attesting a convergent domain during the late Carboniferous – early Permian. All of these orogenic segments are part of the North African Variscides built at the north-western margin of Gondwana in response to convergence between the later and Laurentia. 2) at around 29-26 Ma, a Barrovian to Abukuma metamorphic event affects the Sebtides (the innermost units of the chain) and interpreted as the evolution of the upper plate of a subduction zone. This alpine event is typically characterized by a prograde metamorphic path marked by heating affecting the base of the Sebtides between 26 to 22 Ma, such conditions reflect thinning and heating of the crust related to the asthenosphere upwelling due to slab roll-back. This event marks the beginning of a major extensive event. 3) In the Miocene around 22-20 Ma, the internal zones are affected by an E-W extension contemporary to the opening of the Alboran Basin in a back-arc context, and the intrusion of granitic dykes into the peridotites and crustal metamorphic units, the exhumation of the Sebtides was complete at this time. 4) From early to middle Miocène, the Betic-Rif belt acquired its arcuate geometry (the Gibraltar Arc) during the collision between the Internal and the external zones, attested by de NE-SW to E-W shortening phases across the arc. 5) more lately prior to Pliocene, the Gibraltar arc was subjected to contractional possess related to a N-S shortening phase, which drastically altered its geometry
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Ternois, Sébastien. "Reconstruction de la Dynamique Précoce d'un Orogène : Mise en évidence de la Transition Rifting-Collision dans le système est-pyrénéen (France) par la Géo-thermochronologie." Thesis, Université de Lorraine, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019LORR0086/document.
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Les orogènes collisionnels sont classiquement décrits comme le résultat de l'accrétion continentale de marges proximales. Cette accrétion conduit à la surrection des reliefs et à l'export important de produits d'érosion dans les bassins d'avant-pays qui les jalonnent. Dans ce schéma géodynamique sont alors uniquement considérés les domaines pré-orogéniques les moins déformés. Pourtant, un nombre croissant d'évidences géologiques de terrain indiquent la conservation voire la réutilisation de structures héritées de la phase extensive précédant la convergence et la collision au coeur des orogènes. À partir de l'étude géo-thermochronométrique de la bordure orientale du domaine hyper-étiré nord-pyrénéen (massif de l'Agly, Zone Nord Pyrénéenne) et de son avant-pays précoce (synclinal de Rennes-les-Bains, Bassin Aquitain), cette thèse a pour objectifs de décrire l'évolution d'une marge distale au cours des premiers stades de convergence, de quantifier les processus source-réceptacle associés et d'apporter des contraintes temporelles et paléogéographiques quant à la création des tout premiers reliefs pyrénéens issus de son inversion. Grâce à l'utilisation du multi-thermochronomètre (U-Th)/He sur zircon et apatite, deux épisodes de refroidissement sont mis en évidence dans le prisme nord-pyrénéen (Campano-Maastrichtien et Eocène), chacun d'eux synchrone d'une phase de subsidence dans le bassin d'avant-pays. J'ai ainsi pu proposer un modèle équilibré d'évolution d'une marge distale hyper-amincie par inversion de structures héritées, chevauchements de socle et sous-placage continental se matérialisant par une signature thermochronologique claire de refroidissement sans érosion au début de la convergence. L'absence d'enregistrement de refroidissement au Paléocène par l'arrêt prématuré de l'inversion précoce dans le prisme nord-pyrénéen indique l'absence significative d'érosion et la position bordière de ce prisme par rapport à un édifice déjà construit plus à l'est à cette époque. Pour caractériser cet édifice aujourd'hui disparu du fait de l'ouverture du Golfe du Lion, j'ai utilisé une approche détritique de double datation in situ (U-Th)/He - U/Pb sur zircon et mis en évidence une histoire de dénudation rapide pendant le Campano-Maastrichtien, caractéristique de la création d'une topographie précoce. Ce travail montre pour la première fois clairement la migration progressive de la déformation d'est en ouest par l'inversion de structures héritées au début de la convergence pyrénéenne, ce qui suggère l'existence d'un domaine ouvert à l'est à la fin de l'épisode extensif précédant la convergence. Cette étude met en avant le rôle de l'architecture des systèmes hyper-amincis dans la formation des orogènes collisionnels et confirme les liens étroits existant entre un orogène et ses bassins d'avant-paysCollisional orogens are classically described as the result of continental accretion of proximal margins. This accretion leads to the creation of relief and to the important export of erosion products in the directly adjacent foreland basins. In this geodynamic scheme, only the least deformed pre-orogenic domains are considered. However, a growing number of geological field evidences indicate the preservation or even the reuse of structures inherited from the rifting phase preceding convergence and collision within orogens. By conducting a geo-thermochronometric study of the easternmost, inverted hyperextended Aptian-Cenomanian rift system (Agly massif, North Pyrenean Zone) and the adjacent early retroforeland (Rennes-les-Bains syncline, Aquitaine Basin), this thesis aims to describe the evolution of a distal rifted margin during the first stages of convergence, to quantify the associated source-to-sink processes and to provide temporal and paleogeographic constraints regarding the creation of the very first Pyrenean reliefs resulting from inversion of the margin. Using the zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He multi-thermochronometers, I show that the Pyrenean retro-wedge records two clear phases of orogenic cooling, Late Campanian-Maastrichtian and Ypresian-Bartonian, which I relate to early inversion of the distal rifted margin and main collision, respectively. I have thus been able to propose a crustal-scale sequentially restored model for the tectonic and thermal transition from extension to peak orogenesis in the eastern Pyrenees, which suggests that both thrusting and underplating processes contributed to early inversion of the Aptian-Cenomanian rift system. The absence of Paleocene cooling record indicates little to no erosion of the Pyrenean retro-wedge, suggesting the existence of a more easterly source area supplying early retroforeland sediments at this time. To characterize this eastern edifice, which has since been destroyed by the Oligocene-Miocene opening of the Gulf of Lion, I used in situ (U-Th)/He - U/Pb double dating on detrital zircons and show rapid denudation rates during early convergence, characteristic of early topographic growth. This work shows for the first time clearly the progressive migration of deformation from east to west by inversion of inherited structures at the beginning of Pyrenean convergence. This suggests the existence of an open domain in the east at the end of the rifting phase preceding convergence. This study highlights the role of the architecture of hyper-thinned systems in the formation of collisional orogens and confirms the close links between an orogen and its foreland basins
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Gregory, Courtney Jayne. "Allanite chemistry and the U-Th-Pb geochronology." Phd thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/151732.
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"(U-Th)/He, U/Pb, and Radiation Damage Dating of the Rochechouart-Chassenon Impact Structure, France." Master's thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.40296.
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abstract: It has been hypothesized that the ~25 km Rochechouart-Chassenon impact structure (RCIS) in the NW Massif Central, France, was formed during a Late Triassic (ca. 214 Ma) terrestrial impact event that produced a catena of several large craters. Testing this hypothesis, and assessing its possible impacts on biological evolution, requires both accurate and precise dating of candidate impact structures. Like many of these structures, the age of the RCIS is controversial because geochronological datasets yield contradictory results, even when a single isotopic system is used; for example, the two most recent 40Ar/39Ar studies of RCIS yielded statistically inconsistent dates of 201 ± 2 Ma (2σ) and 214 ± 8 Ma (2σ). While the precision offered by various geochronometers used to date impact structures varies significantly, a fair way to assess the confidence scientists might have in the accuracy of an impact age is to establish whether or not multiple chronometers yield statistically indistinguishable ages when applied to that structure. With that in mind, I have applied the (U-Th)/He, U/Pb, and radiation damage chronometers to zircons separated from two different RCIS impactites. My best estimate of the zircon (U-Th)/He age of the impact event is 191.6 ± 9.1 Ma at the 95% confidence level. U/Pb zircon dates suggest that most zircons in the RCIS target rocks were not completely reset during impact, but a subset (n = 8) of zircons appear to have crystallized from the impact melt or to have been completely reset; these zircons indicate a U/Pb impact age of 202.6 ± 5.8 Ma (95% confidence level). Zircon radiation damage dates are highly variable, indicating that the RCIS event resulted only in partial annealing of pre-impact zircon in the country rock, but a small sub-population of zircons yielded a mean date of 211 ± 13 Ma (95% confidence level). These results – all statistically indistinguishable from the previously published 40Ar/39Ar date of 201 ± 2 Ma – collectively argue that the impact age was near the presently agreed upon Triassic-Jurassic boundary. This age raises the possibility that seismite and tsunamite deposits found in the present-day British Isles may be related to the RCIS.Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Geological Sciences 2016
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Bo-RenWang and 王伯仁. "Behavior of U and Th isotopes in diagenetically-altered fossil corals: its implication for U-series dating." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/57774961542072695743.
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碩士國立成功大學
地球科學系碩博士班
98
To understand the behavior of uranium-series isotopes in diagenetically-altered fossil corals, this study collected fossil corals from Kenting, Heng Chun Peninsula, Taiwan. After separating each coral sample into 3-5 sub-coral samples, we measured the distributions of uranium (238U, 234U) and thorium (230Th, 232Th) isotopes in each of these subsamples. Results show that the modern and unaltered corals collected from Eruanbi (鵝鑾鼻) at modern sea-level have 238U activities 2.28 ± 0.08 dpm/g in consistence with those of unaltered corals reported previously for other locations of Kenting. Corals from Lung-Pan (龍磐) at ~80 m a.s.l. (above sea-level) and She-Ding (社頂) at ~150 m a.s.l. have 238U activities mostly smaller or equal to 1 dpm/g, which are much smaller than those of modern corals at Kenting as well as the unaltered corals from various parts of world oceans. The observed decrease of 238U activities in altered corals suggests that the diagenesis of coral results in significant loss of uranium to groundwater. Consistent with the observations on diagenesis-driven leads to loss of uranium from corals, 230Th/238U ratios are found in some corals to be significantly greater than 1, suggesting that significant diagenesis occurs during the last 350 kyrs. It is interesting that 234U/238U ratios from various parts of the same coral shows variable values of ~0.98 to 1.13, a result of exchange of uranium between coral and groundwater during the diagenesis. 230Th/238U ratios in various parts of the same coral were also found to vary significantly, suggesting various degree of diagenesis in various parts of the same corals. Based on these findings, we conclude that no reliable U-series dates can be obtained from those fossil corals by assuming a closed system for corals. To evaluate the impact of diagenesis on U-series dating of corals, we proposed three possible about timing of uranium loss from the corals : (1) The uranium loss by diagenesis occurs in the early short period of coral formation, (2) the uranium loss occurs recently, or (3) U loss occurs at any time after coral formation. Case (1) is datable but requires that the measured 230Th/238U and 234U/238U ratios in all subsamples are the same with the uncertainty. Case (2) is datable only if the recent loss of U can be corrected. Case (3) is undatable.
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Chapman, Shay Michael. "Thermal and Structural Constraints on the Tectonic Evolution of the Idaho-Wyoming-Utah Thrust Belt." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/151236.
Full textAbstract:
The timing of motion on thrust faults in the Idaho-Wyoming-Utah (IWU) thrust belt comes from synorogenic sediments, apatite thermochronology and direct dating of fault rocks coupled with good geometrical constraints of the subsurface structure. The thermal history comes from the analyses of apatite thermochronology, thermal maturation of hydrocarbon source rocks and isotope analysis of fluid inclusions from syntectonic veins. New information from zircon fission track and zircon (U-Th)/He analysis provide constraints on the thermal evolution of the IWU thrust belt over geological time. These analyses demonstrate that the time-temperature pathway of the rocks sampled never reached the required conditions to reset the thermochronometers necessary to provide new timing constraints. Previous thermal constraints for maximum temperatures of IWU thrust belt rocks, place the lower limit at ~110°C and the upper limit at ~328°C. New zircon fission track results suggest an upper limit at ~180°C for million year time scales. ID-TIMS and LA-ICPMS of syntectonic calcite veins suggest that new techniques for dating times of active deformation are viable given that radiogenic isotope concentrations occur at sufficient levels within the vein material.
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Bense, Frithjof A. "Multi-Method Chronometric Constraints on the Thermal, Structural and Morphotectonic Evolution of the Eastern and Western Sierras Pampeanas with Special Emphasis on K-Ar Dating of Fault Gouges." Doctoral thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-0001-BB21-8.
Full textAbstract:
Die hier präsentierte Studie umfasst detaillierte Untersuchungen zur thermochronologischen, strukturellen sowie morphologischen Entwicklung der Östlichen und Westlichen Sierras Pampeanas in Argentinien, zwischen 26°S to 34°S südlicher Breite.
Kapitel 3 diskutiert thermochronologische Daten (Apatit Spaltspuren, Zirkon und Apatit (U-Th)/He) sowie K-Ar Illit-Datierung an Störungsletten aus der Sierra de Comechingones sowie Ar-Ar Alter an Vulkaniten des vulkanischen Gürtels von San Luis (Östliche Sierras Pampeanas). K-Ar Illitalter belegen den Beginn spröder Deformation vor etwa 340 Ma. Thermochronologische Daten dokumentieren geringe Exhumationsraten seit dem späten Paläozoikum sowie eine maximale Exhumierung von etwa 2,3 km seit der späten Kreidezeit. Ar-Ar Datierungen an vulkanischen Gesteinen des San Luis Vulkanischen Gürtels ergeben Alter zwischen 7,54 Ma und 1,91 Ma. Dies belegt ein ostwärts gerichtetes Fortschreiten der magmatischen Front, welches mit einer Verflachung des Subduktionswinkels der Nazca Platte unter die Südamerikanische Platte vor etwa 11.2 Ma assoziiert wird. Darüber hinaus deuten die hier präsentierten thermochronologischen Daten an, dass der Anteil Andiner Exhumation und Hebung an der Gesamthebung und Exhumation der Sierras Pampeanas von geringer ist als gemeinhin angenommen.
Kapitel 4 präsentiert Ergebnisse von Niedrig-Temperatur thermochronologischen Untersuchungen sowie K-Ar Alter retrograd gewachsener Illite aus spröden Störungszonen der Sierra de San Luis (Östliche Sierras Pampeanas). K-Ar Illitalter belegen eine lang andauernde Aktivität spröder Deformation welche unmittelbar nach dem Ende der Chanic Phase der Famatinischen Orogenese vor etwa 320 Ma einsetzte und zeitlich mit dem Übergang von duktilen zu spröden Deformationsmechanismen übereinstimmt. Jüngste Illitlater liegen zwischen 222-172 Ma. Diese können als Abkühlalter des Grundgebirges unter die zur Illitbildung benötigten Temperaturen interpretiert werden, jedoch nicht als Ende der spröden Deformation. Diese Interpretation wird von den Ergebnissen thermochronologischer Untersuchungen bestätigt. (U-Th)/He Datierungen an Apatiten und Zirkonen, sowie Apatit Spaltspuranalysen dokumentieren die Exhumation seit dem Perm, welche möglicherweise in Verbindung zur San Rafael Orogenese steht. Die ermittelten Abkühlalter belegen geringe Exhumationsraten sowie die damit einhergehende lange Verweildauer der Proben in den Temperaturbereichen der partial annealing bzw. parial retention zone von Apatit und Zirkon (PRZA, PRZZ und PAZA). Die finale Abkühlung auf Oberflächentemperaturen fand im Verlauf des Jura und der späten Kreide statt. Die Abkühlgeschichten der Sierra de San Luis und Sierra de Comechingones werden in einem Entwicklungsmodel zusammengefasst, welches signifikante Unterschiede in der thermischen Entwicklung beider Gebirgszüge offenbart.
Kapitel 5 diskutiert die thermochronologische Entwicklung der Sierra de Pie de Palo, einem ausgeprägten Höhenzug in den Westlichen Sierras Pampeanas. Thermochronologische Untersuchungen zeigen das die strukturelle Entwicklung der Sierra Pie de Palo bereits im späten Paläozoikum einsetzte und von jeher durch tektonisch kontrollierte Erosion geprägt wurde, welche sich im Verlauf des Mesozoikums aufgrund extensionaler Tektonik zwar verlangsamte, jedoch andauerte. Die heutige Topographie des Gebirgszuges bildete sich im Zuge Andiner Kompression im Verlauf des Späten Mesozoikums und Paläogens durch die Hebung und damit einhergehender Denudation einzelner Grundgebirgsblöcke. Die mit der Hebung assoziierte Deformation schritt dabei von Ost nach West voran. Der Gesamtbetrag vertikaler Hebung seit dem frühen Paläozoikum kann auf ca. 3,7-4,3 km eingegrenzt werden, wobei die Gesamtexhumation etwa 1,7-2,2 km bei einer Exhumationsrate von 0,03-0,04 mm/a beträgt.
Kapitel 6 stellt eine Methode zur Interpretation von K-Ar Illit Feinfraktionsaltern aus Störungsletten aus nichtsedimentären Gesteinen vor. Gemäß der vorgestellten Methode werden die ermittelten K Ar Illitalter in Kombination mit den Untersuchungsergebnissen unabhängiger Parameter, z.B. Illitkristallinität, Illit-Polytypie und Polytyp-Quantifizierung, Korngröße, Tonmineralogie, K-Ar Abkühlaltern des Nebengesteins sowie mit Ergebnissen thermochronologischer Untersuchungen (AHe, ZHe, AFT) evaluiert. Dieser Interpretationsansatz wird im Rahmen einer regionalen Studie innerhalb der Östlichen Sierras Pampeanas exemplarisch angewandt. Im Zuge dessen wurde eine große Zahl von Störungsletten systematisch beprobt und analysiert. Ermittelte K-Ar Illitalter decken die Zeitspanne vom Devon bis in die Kreidezeit und dokumentieren eine lang anhaltende Phase bruchhafter Deformation in der Region. Alter >320 Ma sind synchron mit einer Periode kompressiver intra-Platten Tektonik, während Permische und Triassische Alter mit einer Periode flacher Subduktion der Farallon Platte unter die Südamerikansche Platte assoziiert werden können. Darüber hinaus belegen die K-Ar Illitalter ein von Nord nach Süd Fortschreiten der spröden Deformation in den Sierras de San Luis und Comechingones. Die Integrität und Konsistenz der analysierten Daten belegt die Leistungsfähigkeit und tektonische Signifikanz der hier vorgestellten Methode, welche somit einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung komplexer Abkühlungs- und Deformationsereignisse bieten kann. Jedoch kann gezeigt werden, dass die Aussagekraft der hier vorgestellten Methode stark von der Abkühlgeschichte des Untersuchungsgebietes abhängt.
Kapitel 7 präsentiert thermochronologische Daten aus den gesamten Sierras Pampeanas. Darüber hinaus werden alle verfügbaren thermochronologischen und geochronologischen Daten zur Abkühlgeschichte der Sierras Pampeanas diskutiert und in ein Abkühlmodell zusammengefasst. Die Daten belegen eine Abkühlung unter 200°C im Verlauf des Karbons. Im Verlauf des Perms und der Trias schritt die Abkühlung von West nach Ost fort, räumlich und zeitlich einhergehend mit dem fortschreiten eines flachen Subduktionsereignisses der Farallon-Platte unter die heutige Südamerikanische Platte. Mesozoische Riftereignisse und damit einhergehende Sedimentation und Versenkung zeigen nur lokal Einfluss auf die ermittelten Abkühlalter. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die zum Verlust der Altersinformation der thermochronologischen Systeme notwenige Versenkungstiefen nur entlang der schmalen, räumlich eingeschränkten Kretazischen Riftbecken erreicht werden. Die finale Abkühlung auf Oberflächentemperaturen verlief diachron in den nördlichen und südlichen Sierras Pampeanas. So können im Norden Neogene Alter beobachtet werden, während die südlichen und westlichen Sierras Pampeanas spätestens seit der Kreide bzw. frühen Paleogens auf Oberflächentemperaturen abgekühlt waren. Letzteres deutet auf die Existenz einer positiven Topographie in den südlichen Sierras Pampeanas, bereits vor dem Einsetzen Cenozoischen Andinen Kompression und der im Neogenen einsetzenden flachen Subduktion der Nazca-Platte hin. Dies wiederum wiederspricht der allgemein akzeptierten Hypothese, dass die Exhumation und Hebung der Sierras Pampeanas allein mit der Neogenen flachen Subduktion der Nazca-Platte in Verbindung stehen. Im Gegensatz dazu wird vorgeschlagen, dass diese Neogenen Prozesse lediglich zu einer Überprägung und Akzentuierung des bereits existierenden Reliefs führten. Diese Vermutung kann durch die Berechnung auffallend niedriger Denudationsraten in den Östlichen und Westlichen Sierras Pampeanas von 0,010 0,024 km/a gestützt werden, welche auf stabile Bedingungen, zumindest seit der späten Kreidezeit, hindeuten.
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"Tools, Techniques, and Applications For Detrital Thermochronology: From the Lab to the Eastern Sierra Nevada, California." Doctoral diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.54811.
Full textAbstract:
abstract: Geochronology and thermochronology are valuable tools for investigating the synergy between the deformational and erosional processes that shape mountainous terrains. Though numerous techniques have been developed to probe the rate and timing of events within these settings, the research presented here explores how scientists can use fewer samples to produce richer data products with broader contextual importance.
The beginning of this compilation focuses on establishing laboratory techniques to facilitate this goal. I developed a novel laser ablation ‘double dating’ (LADD) technique that rapidly yields paired U/Pb and (U-Th)/He dates for the accessory minerals zircon, titanite, and apatite. The technique obviates the need for geometric corrections typically applied during (U-Th)/He data reduction, enables the analysis of a broader spectrum of detrital crystals, and provides the opportunity for additional mapping and isotopic analyses that are traditionally challenging to procure and/or fraught with assumptions. Despite the technique’s promise, I also found it essential to weigh several considerations of relevance when attempting to date young (≤ Miocene) accessory minerals with low concentrations of U + Th. Consequently, I discuss the impact that such variables have on the magnitude of analytical imprecision and the data’s flexibility for geologic interpretation.
Beyond the lab, I collected a suite of bedrock and detrital samples from small catchments draining the southeastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Using the techniques described above as well as conventional methods for (U-Th)/He zircon dating, I compared the utility of both bedrock and detrital approaches for extrapolating local exhumation histories. I additionally tested the ability to employ detrital datasets to extrapolate cooling histories that span from mineral crystallization to rock exhumation through the upper crust. Employing principal mode dates from a combination of zircon and apatite LADD dates and detrital hornblende 40Ar/39Ar dates, I was able to derive thermal models that demonstrate the existence of significant variability in the cooling histories of various intrusive units along the eastern Sierra Nevada. While these results only scratch the surface of what’s possible within the realm of detrital-based research, this contribution demonstrates the utility of expanding the temporal and spatial scope of traditional detrital methodologies.Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2019
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Fanta, Martin. "Datování vývěrů radioaktivních minerálních vod v krkonošsko-jizerském krystaliniku metodou 230Th/234U." Master's thesis, 2016. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-349028.
Full textAbstract:
The isotopes 238 U, 234 U and 230 Th, as members of the uranium-radium decay chain, are fractionated in the environment by changes of geochemical conditions, and they can be used for dating of recent or past geochemical processes in the Quaternary. Samples of water with uranium and of water-activated solids were taken of radioactive mineral water springs at two study sites in the area of Krkonoše-Jizera crystalline complex: Svatý Vojtěch (St. Adalbert) in Horní Malá Úpa, and Bukový Pramen in the Těsný důl valley in Janské Lázně. Uranium was co-precipitated in field conditions with hydroxides of FeIII+ in 50-liter water samples of the radioactive springs. In the lab, uranium and thorium were separated from water precipitates, as well as from solid samples after their chemical decomposition, using chromatographic extraction agent UTEVA. All the three isotopes of interest emit alpha particles, and so their activities were measured by alpha spectrometry and expressed as 234 U/238 U and 230 Th/234 U ratios. As an internal standard, 232 U/228 Th was used. The resulting 234 U/238 U activity ratios of four water samples measured ranged from 1.0747 to 1.423. In twelve samples of solid phases activity ratios 234 U/238 U from 0.861 to 1.129 were determined. The 230 Th/234 U activity ratios form two distinct...
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Makhubela, Tebogo Vincent. "⁴⁰ Ar/³⁹Ar and (U-Th)/He dating attempts on the fossil-bearing cave deposits of the Malapa and Sterkfontein hominin sites of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13697.
Full textAbstract:
M.Sc. (Geology)The Cradle of Humankind is a 47 000 hectare demarcated area with over three dozen fossil-bearing cave sites well known for the preservation of fossil evidence of early hominin taxa such as Australopithecus Africanus, Australopithecus Sediba, Paranthropus Robustus and Early Homo. As a result, a database of precise and accurate chronological data for fossil-bearing cave deposits of the Cradle of Humankind (similar to that for East African fossil sites) is very important, but developing one has proven extremely challenging. The main challenge is that the fossil-bearing deposits at the cradle are mainly complex breccias with a chaotic, localized stratigraphy and no association to any volcanic ash beds, unlike the East African deposits which are lacustrine and fluviatile deposits interbedded with volcanic ash layers. However, substantial success has been obtained recently through the combination of U-Pb dating of CaCO₃ speleothems and palaeomagnetic dating (magnetostratigraphy) after many attempts and unconvincing results from techniques such as biostratigraphic correlations, electron spin resonance on teeth and cosmogenic burial dating of the sediments. The problem with U-Pb dating of CaCO₃ speleothems is that this requires samples that are extremely clean (i.e. detrital-free) and have an appreciable U content (close to 1 ppm), and such material is at many sites not available...
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Haider, Viktoria L. "Evolution and decay of peneplains in the northern Lhasa terrane, Tibetan Plateau." Doctoral thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-0023-990C-4.
Full textAbstract:
Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit der Entwicklung von “Fastebenen”, die im Weiteren einheitlich als “Peneplains” bezeichnet werden, sowie dem Zerfall dieses markanten geomorphologischen Erscheinungsbildes im südlichsten Teil des tibetischen Plateau dem sogenannten Lhasa Block.
Im Zuge dieser Arbeit konnten neue Erkenntnisse über die Hebungsgeschichte und der Sedimentverteilung in diesem Untersuchungsgebiet gewonnen werden. Diese Ergebnisse tragen zu einem besseren Verständnis der geodynamischen Entwicklung Asiens bei, die bis heute viele Fragen aufwirft.
Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts wurden Peneplains als metastabile geomorphologische Formen angesehen, die im Zuge großflächiger Erosion entstehen. Die Bezeichnung Peneplain und das dahinter stehende Konzept werden seitdem von der geomorphologischen Gemeinschaft jedoch kontrovers diskutiert. Bis heute gibt es keine standardisierte bzw. repräsentative Definition für das nicht zu übersehende landschaftsbildende Phänomen der Peneplains. Dementsprechend gibt es auch nur wenige Ansätze zu Modellierungen oder Berechnungen mit Geoinformationssystemen. Hier, in dieser Dissertation, werden idealisierte Peneplains als erhöhte, gleichmäßige und großflächige Ebenen mit abfallenden Hängen verstanden, auch wenn sich landschaftsbildende Peneplains oft gekippt darstellen und durch tektonische Prozesse gestört bzw. bereits durch fortschreitende Erosionsprozesse angegriffen sind.
Gut erhaltene Peneplains sind speziell für das Gebiet um den höchstgelegenen See der Welt, dem Nam Co, im nördlichen Teil des Lhasa Blocks im Hochland von Tibet charakteristisch. Die Peneplains zerschneiden das dort vorkommende viel ältere und vorwiegend granitische Gestein sowie die angrenzenden Metasedimente.
Zur Bestimmung der Abkühl- und Hebungsalter der Granite wurden geo- und thermochronologische Methoden wie Zirkon U-Pb, Zirkon (U-Th)/He, Apatit (U-Th)/He und Apatit-SpaltspurenDatierung angewendet. Neben der Hebungsrate konnte auch die Freilegung des granitischen Gesteines ermittelt werden. Mit der Methode zur Bestimmung des U-Pb-Zirkonalters konnten zwei Intrusionsgruppen, um 118 Ma und 85 Ma, festgestellt werden. Ebenso wurden vulkanische Aktivitäten nachgewiesen und auf einen Zeitraum zwischen 63 Ma und 58 Ma datiert.
Thermische Modelle, aufbauend auf Zirkon- und Apatit-(U-Th)/He-Datierungen sowie auf ApatitSpaltspuren-Daten der untersuchten Granitoide, ergeben einen Hebungs- und Abkühlungszeitraum von 75 Ma bis 55 Ma mit einer Hebungsrate von 300 m/Ma, welche im Zeitfenster zwischen 55 Ma und 45 Ma stark abfällt auf 10 m/Ma. Die Auswertung der Messdaten unserer Kooperationspartner an der Universität Münster zu kosmogenen Nukliden zeigen sehr niedrigen Erosionsraten von 6-11 m/Ma und 11-16 m/Ma, in den letzten 10.000 Jahren die in den einzelnen Einzugsgebieten ermittelt wurden. Diese Daten zeugen von einer noch immer andauernden Periode der Stabilität und tragen zur Erhaltung der Peneplains bei.
Während der anhaltenden Phase der Erosion und Einebnung sind vor ungefähr 45 Ma in der untersuchten Region zwischen 3 km und 6 km Gestein abgetragen und weg transportiert worden.
Es ist naheliegend, dass das abgetragene Material als Sediment über das vorhandene Flusssystem fast vollständig in die heute bestehenden Ozenane transportiert wurde. Im Lhasa Block können nur verhältnismäßig wenig Sedimente aus dieser Zeit nachgewiesen werden. Alle bisherigen Untersuchungsergebnisse sowie die durchgeführte Sediment-Herkunftsanalyse untermauern die Theorie, dass die Peneplainbildung und ihre Erosionsprozesse in niedriger Höhe - höchstwahrscheinlich auf Meeresniveau - stattgefunden haben muss. Dieser Prozess wurde durch die Kollision des indischen Kontinents mit Asien gestoppt. Die resultierende Krustenverdickung führte zu einer Hebung der Landschaft mit den Peneplains, von Meeresniveau auf 5.000 bis 7.000 Höhenmeter. Die auf dem “das Dach der Welt” vorherrschenden idealen Klimabedingungen haben anschließend für die fast vollständige Erhaltung der Peneplains gesorgt.
Der zweite Teil der Dissertation befasst sich mit der Entwicklung einer robusten Methode Peneplains anhand digitale Höhenmodelle (DEM) zu berechnen bzw. zu kartieren. Frei zugängliche DEMs machen es möglich, Erdoberflächen repräsentativ mathematisch und statistisch zu analysieren und zu charakterisieren. Diese Analysemethode stellt eine ausgezeichnete Möglichkeit dar, die Peneplains mittels aussagekräftiger Algorithmen zu charakterisieren und digital zu kartieren.
Um Peneplains algorithmisch von der Umgebung klar abgrenzen zu können, wurde ein komplett neuer Ansatz der Fuzzylogik angewandt. Als DEM-Basis wurde ein 90 arcsec-DEM der Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) verwendet. Mithilfe eines Geoinformationssystems (GIS) wurden Algorithmen geschrieben, die vier verschiedene kritische Parameter zur Beschreibung von Peneplains berücksichtigen: (I) Gefälle, (II) Kurvigkeit, (III) Geländerauhigkeit und (IV) Relative Höhe. Um die Eignung der Methode zu prüfen, wurde auf Basis der SRTM-DEM weltweit kartiert und mit schon in der Literatur beschriebenen Peneplains verglichen. Die dabei erhaltenen Ergebnisse von den Appalachen, den Anden, dem Zentralmassif und Neuseeland bestätigen dass ein Einsatz des Modells, weltweit und unabhängig von der Höhenlage möglich ist.