Geology topics
S.L. Kamo
Publications and source records attributed to S.L. Kamo.
Deciphering igneous and metamorphic events in high-grade rocks of the Wilmington complex, Delaware: Morphology, cathodoluminescence and backscattered electron zoning, and SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology of zircon and monazite
High-grade rocks of the Wilmington Complex, northern Delaware and adjacent Maryland and Pennsylvania, contain morphologically complex zircons that formed through both igneous and metamorphic processes during the development of an island-arc complex and suturing of the arc to Laurentia. The arc complex has been divided into several members, the protoliths of which include both intrusive and extrusive rocks. Metasedimentary rocks are interlayered with the complex and are believed to be the infrastructure upon which the arc was built. In the Wilmingto n Complex rocks, both igneous and metamorphic zircons occur as elongate and equant forms. Chemical zoning, shown by cathodoluminescence (CL), includes both concentric, oscillatory patterns, indicative of igneous origin, and patchwork and sector patterns, suggestive of metamorphic growth. Metamorphic monazites are chemically homogeneous, or show oscillatory or spotted chemical zoning in backscattered electron images. U-Pb geochronology by sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) was used to date complexly zoned zircon and monazite. All but one member of the Wilmington Complex crystallized in the Ordovician between ca. 475 and 485 Ma; these rocks were intruded by a suite of gabbro-to-granite plutonic rocks at 434 ?? Ma. Detrital zircons in metavolcanic and metasedimentary units were derived predominantly from 0.9 to 1.4 Ga (Grenvillian) basement, presumably of Laurentian origin. Amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism of the Wilmington Complex, recorded by ages of metamorphic zircon (428 ?? 4 and 432 ?? 6 Ma) and monazite (429 ?? 2 and 426 ?? 3 Ma), occurred contemporaneously with emplacement of the younger plutonic rocks. On the basis of varying CL zoning patterns and external morphologies, metamorphic zircons formed by different processes (presumably controlled by rock chemistry) at slightly different times and temperatures during prograde metamorphism. In addition, at least three other thermal episodes are recorded by monazite growth at 447 ?? 4, 411 ?? 3, and 398 ?? 3 Ma. ?? 2006 Geological Society of America.
Improved 206Pb/238U microprobe geochronology by the monitoring of a trace-element-related matrix effect; SHRIMP, ID-TIMS, ELA-ICP-MS and oxygen isotope documentation for a series of zircon standards
Precise isotope dilution-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) documentation is given for two new Palaeozoic zircon standards (TEMORA 2 and R33). These data, in combination with results for previously documented standards (AS3, SL13, QGNG and TEMORA 1), provide the basis for a detailed investigation of inconsistencies in 206Pb/238U ages measured by microprobe. Although these ages are normally consistent between any two standards, their relative age offsets are often different from those established by ID-TIMS. This is true for both sensitive high-resolution ion-microprobe (SHRIMP) and excimer laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ELA-ICP-MS) dating, although the age offsets are in the opposite sense for the two techniques. Various factors have been investigated for possible correlations with age bias, in an attempt to resolve why the accuracy of the method is worse than the indicated precision. Crystallographic orientation, position on the grain-mount and oxygen isotopic composition are unrelated to the bias. There are, however, striking correlations between the 206Pb/238U age offsets and P, Sm and, most particularly, Nd abundances in the zircons. Although these are not believed to be the primary cause of this apparent matrix effect, they indicate that ionisation of 206Pb/238U is influenced, at least in part, by a combination of trace elements. Nd is sufficiently representative of the controlling trace elements that it provides a quantitative means of correcting for the microprobe age bias. This approach has the potential to reduce age biases associated with different techniques, different instrumentation and different standards within and between laboratories. Crown Copyright ?? 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Improved calibration procedures and new standards for U - Pb and Th - Pb dating of Phanerozoic xenotime by ion microprobe
Xenotime is a widely occurring mineral that is amenable to U-Pb and Th-Pb dating but often is found as micrometre-sized crystals that can only be dated by in situ microanalytical techniques. Determining accurate ages for Phanerozoic samples, and assessing concordance in older samples, requires accurate determination of Pb/U and Pb/Th; however, ion microprobe data for these ratios are affected by the highly variable trace element composition of xenotime. We have identified calibration procedures, including matrix corrections for the effects of the dominant trace elements U, Th and REE, that provide an accuracy of ???1% for Pb/U and <2% for Pb/Th. Several new standard samples are available that cover a range of compositions, permitting better matching of samples with standards as well as giving control of the matrix effects. However, no chemically homogeneous samples have been identified. ?? 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A minimum U-Pb age for Siberian flood-basalt volcanism
Establishing an accurate and precise age for Siberian flood-basalt volcanism is of great importance in evaluating causes for the unequaled mass extinction of flora and fauna at the Permian-Triassic boundary. We report a new, minimum U-Pb age obtained from zircon and baddeleyite from the mineralized Noril'sk I intrusion that cuts the lower third of this rapidly deposited, 3500-m-thick volcanic sequence near Noril'sk. This 251.2 ?? 0.3 (2??) Ma age is within analytical error of the SHRIMP U-Pb age for zircon from the Permian-Triassic boundary at Meishan, South China [251.1 ?? 3.6 Ma (2??)], and confirms Siberian basaltic volcanism as a possible contributor to the mass extinction.