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© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Monazite is a common accessory phosphate mineral that occurs under a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions in sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. Monazite contains high amounts of Th and U, rendering single monazite grains suitable for in-situ U-Th/Pb dating using laser ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Two key aspects of monazite dating that are critical for accurate age data with maximum precision are (i) optimized instrumental conditions to minimize analytical scatter and (ii) a well characterized reference material to ensure the accuracy of the obtained aged. Here, we analyzed five monazite reference materials (USGS 44069, 94-222, MAdel, Moacir and Thompson Mine Monazite) for their U-Th/Pb ages using LA-ICP-MS technique and applied a variety of laser spot diameters and repetition rates to find the best operational conditions to achieve accurate age data while maintaining maximum precision. We find that a spot diameter of 10 µm and a repetition rate of 10 Hz yield the most precise ages with a deviation of ±2.0% from their respective high-precision U/Pb literature age data. Ages were reproduced in three different LA-ICP-MS laboratories using these parameters. Each reference material was tested for its suitability as a matrix-matched age reference material. For this, a rotating, iterative approach was adopted in which one reference monazite was used as calibration reference material against all others, which were treated as unknowns. The results reveal that USGS 44069, 94-222, Thompson Mine Monazite and MAdel all agree with their respective calculated ages and ID-TIMS reference ages and thus are suggested as suitable calibration reference materials. Moacir, however, appears slightly older than previously suggested (up to 4%), thus, caution is advised here when using Moacir as reference material for U-Th/Pb LA-ICP-MS dating in the absence of further absolute age calibration.

Details

Title
Assessment of Five Monazite Reference Materials for U-Th/Pb Dating Using Laser-Ablation ICP-MS
Author
Richter, Marianne 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nebel-Jacobsen, Yona 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nebel, Oliver 1 ; Zack, Thomas 2 ; Mertz-Kraus, Regina 3 ; Raveggi, Massimo 1 ; Rösel, Delia 4 

 Isotopia Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, 9 Rainforest Walk, 3800 Clayton, VIC, Australia[email protected] (O.N.); 
 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden; [email protected] (T.Z.); [email protected] (D.R.) 
 Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, J.-J.-Becher-Weg 21, D-55128 Mainz, Germany; [email protected] 
 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden; [email protected] (T.Z.); [email protected] (D.R.); Institut für Geologie, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Bernhard-von-Cotta-Straße 2, D-09599 Freiberg, Germany 
First page
391
Publication year
2019
Publication date
2019
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20763263
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2548392487
Copyright
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.