Fission-track dating: application to the thermal history of mountains and basins

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6326788

Naeser, C W; Naeser, N D

Fission tracks are cylindrical zones of structural damage found in minerals and glasses. They are formed by the passage of a massive highly-charged ion produced from the spontaneous fission of incorporated /sup 238/U. Fission tracks are stable in most minerals at temperatures <50/sup 0/C, but if a mineral is heated above its track stability zone, the track will fade or anneal. Each mineral species has a characteristic temperature zone over which track annealing takes place, and the extent of this annealing is related to both the temperature and the length of time at that temperature. A short heating event at high temperature will produce the same observed annealing as low temperature heating of long duration. For times greater than approx. =10/sup 6/ years, the temperature range, depending on duration of heating, for total annealing in the three minerals most commonly dated by fission tracks are: apatite 105/sup 0/ to 135/sup 0/C, zircon approx.160/sup 0/ to approx.240/sup 0/C, and sphene approx.250/sup 0/ +/- ./sup 0/C. By looking at the pattern of ages of one or more of these minerals, as a function of depth or elevation, it is possible to determine the paleotemperature history, and the burial or uplift/erosion history, of sedimentary basins and mountain ranges. The distribution of fission-track ages of detrital apatite from Upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary sedimentary rocks in the Wagon Wheel no. 1 well in the northern Green River basin indicates that these rocks have cooled by at least 20/sup 0/C since the beginning of the Pliocene. Likewise, anomalously young apatite ages from Precambrian rocks at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah show that this range has been uplifted and cooled by at least 100/sup 0/C in the last 5 Ma.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Denver, CO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6326788
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
152004* -- Geothermal Data &amp; Theory-- Isotope &amp; Trace Element Studies
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology &amp; Hydrology-- (-1989)
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AGE ESTIMATION
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANNEALING
APATITES
CENOZOIC ERA
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FISSION FRAGMENTS
FISSION TRACKS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMOMETERS
GEOTHERMOMETRY
GREEN RIVER FORMATION
HEAT TREATMENTS
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERALS
MOUNTAINS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FRAGMENTS
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE TRACKS
PHOSPHATE MINERALS
RADIOISOTOPES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SILICATE MINERALS
SILICATES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
TERTIARY PERIOD
THERMOMETERS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
USA
UTAH
WYOMING
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZIRCON
ZIRCONIUM COMPOUNDS
ZIRCONIUM SILICATES