What is it about?

To quantitatively unravel the tectonics and/or relief evolution of a given region, low-temperature thermochronology methods such as (U-Th)/He and fission track dating of apatite (AHe and AFT, respectively) or zircon (ZHe and ZFT, respectively) are often used together. The ZFT and ZHe methods are generally known to record higher temperatures or deeper processes than the AFT and AHe methods because of their higher closure temperatures. Additionally, for a given mineral, (U-Th)/He thermochronometry is generally considered more sensitive to lower temperatures than fission track thermochronology. We demonstrate that the ZHe system is a thermochronometer not only sensitive to temperatures higher than 150 °C, but, in some cases, to temperatures lower than 100–110 °C or even 80 °C (comparable to apatite thermochronometric systems closure temperatures).

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Why is it important?

Our work highlights the importance of being aware of both the damage accumulated in zircons and the time since when damage accumulates to avoid biases when interpreting thermochronological data, especially for landscape and earth crust evolution unraveling.

Perspectives

Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. In summary, our ZHe data open a door to designing further experiments and gaining a better understanding of He behavior in low radiation-damaged zircons.

Dr. Benjamin Gilles Gérard
Universite de Nantes

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This page is a summary of: Zircon (U-Th)/He Closure Temperature Lower Than Apatite Thermochronometric Systems: Reconciliation of a Paradox, Minerals, January 2022, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/min12020145.
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