an energy dispersive miniprobe multielement analyzer emma for direct analysis of trace elements and chemical age dating of single mineral grains abstract an energy dispersive miniprobe multielement analyzer emma was designed and constructed for the analysis of trace elements as cr cu fe ga ge hf mn ni pb rb se sr th y u zn in small individual mineral grains such as apatite garnet monazite sphene zircon and other accessory minerals the instrument is sensitive ppm for most elements rapid 3 6 min per analysis non destructive and essentially no sample preparation is required with respect to single zircon grains as small as 50 m with mass as low as a few g for example the detection limits for u th and pb are on the order of 10 ppm 5 10 times better than the electron microprobe here the emma is used to illustrate the variation in hf and y concentrations in single zircon grains from pegmatites granites basalts carbonatites and kimberlites also the instrument is used for chemical age dating u th total pb of 1 single zircon grains from the berdyshevsky intrusive complex ukraine and 2 single monazite grains from a small placer deposit within the transition zone between the saxothuringikum and moldanubikum bavaria germany the average age of the single zircon grains from berdyshevsky granite determined using emma 2 19 0 17 ga 1 is consistent with the u pb zircon intrusion age of this complex 2 14 0 07 ga and monazite data ranging from 1 95 to 2 48 ga with respect to the pegmatite from this complex the average age of 1 93 0 09 ga found with emma is geologically consistent with zircon and monazite ages ranging from 1 90 to 2 29 ga regarding the monazite grains from the placer the age dates obtained using emma 328 28 ma are comparable to the isotopic ages conventional u pb and pb pb step leaching which yielded ages of 312 3 and 324 12 ma respectively

u pb dating of monazite and its application to geological problems monazite is an underutilized mineral in u pb geochronological studies of crustal rocks it occurs as an accessory mineral in a wide variety of rocks including granite pegmatite felsic volcanic a

three dimensional dynamic simulation of the 1992 landers earthquake the 1992 landers california earthquake magnitude 7 3 was modeled as the propagation of a spontaneous rupture controlled by a realistic prestress distribution with the use of a three dimensional finite difference method the dynamic rupture reproduces the general slip pattern used to compute the initial stress distribution and generates near fault ground motions at the surface similar to observations the simulated rupture propagates on the fault along a complex path with highly variable speed and rise time changing the magnitude and pattern of the stress significantly the method provides the framework to estimate earthquake rupture parameters from recorded seismic and geodetic data

microprobe monazite geochronology understanding geologic processes by integrating composition and chronology abstractmonazite is a light rare earth element lree bearing phosphate mineral that is present in a wide variety of rock types has an extremely variable composition reflecting host rock conditions and is a robust geochronometer that can preserve crystallization ages through a long history of geological events monazite crystals typically contain distinct compositional domains that represent successive generations of monazite which in turn can provide a detailed record of the geologic history of its host rocks the electron microprobe can be used to characterize the geometry of compositional domains analyze the composition of each domain and when carefully configured determine the u th total pb age for domains as small as 5 m in width these data allow the monazite to be linked with and place timing constraints on silicate processes in the host rocks current applications span a broad range of geologic processes in igneous metamorphic hydrothermal and sedimentary rocks

nondestructive chemical dating of young monazite using xrf 1 design of a mini probe age data for samples from the central alps and comparison to u pb tims data the analytical capabilities of an improved mini xrf instrument for trace element analysis are explored to obtain u th pb ages for single monazite grains as small as 50 m the detection limits for u th and pb with counting times of 10 min are 10 ppm counts collected for 40 min are sufficient to date single monazite grains as young as 15 ma the precision of the age data depends essentially on the counting statistics of the main x ray peak npb l 1 2 used to analyze for lead the age uncertainty is proportional to the age of the grain the total contents of th and u and the squared integration time the reliability of the chemical dating method is tested using monazite separates from amphibolite facies metamorphic monazite samples from the central alps for which the chemical ages are compared to mass spectrometric u pb tims ages we show that populations of analyses obtained using the new instrument on single grains as young as 25 30 ma agree within error with the tims data for monazite separates with complex age patterns such as polymetamorphic samples yielding discordant isotopic ages the statistical analysis of chemical age data obtained from populations of 26 50 grains is advantageous in that it may provide additional insight into the reasons for the discordancy chemical th u pb dating of monazite by the xrf method offers considerably improved accuracy and precision compared with chemical dating by electron microprobe which typically becomes impractical for samples less than 100 200 ma in age conversely the minimum grain size required for the new instrument 50 m is well above the spatial resolution of the electron microprobe 2 m a companion paper scherrer et al this volume describes further developments towards microanalysis by xrf with improved spatial resolution

electron microprobe and la icp ms study of monazite hydrothermal alteration implications for u th pb geochronology and nuclear ceramics this paper presents new data that quantify the response of magmatic monazite to three main types of hydrothermal alteration namely sericitization chloritization and greisenization the samples were taken from three paleozoic granites the st nectaire granite massif central france the carnmenellis granite cornwall england and the skiddaw granite lake district england fluid inclusion thermometry and hydrothermal parageneses indicate that alteration took place at temperatures ranging from 260 to 340 c and salinities from 3 to 18 wt nacl equivalent possible monazite alteration mechanisms found in the course of this study using backscattered scanning electron microscopy bse sem electron microprobe laser raman spectroscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms include cationic substitutions monoclinic to hexagonal structure transition accompanied by chemical exchanges selective th removal dissolution reprecipitation and dissolution with replacement by a different mineral these results show that despite the compositional and crystallographic simplicity of monazite it exhibits varied chemical responses to different mineral fluid interactions elemental and isotopic measurements by la icp ms for the unaltered monazites yield statistically significant 232th 208pb and 238u 206pb magmatic crystallization ages in some cases it was possible to give a reasonable estimate of the age of mineral fluid interaction using the altered parts of the monazites or newly precipitated crystals for other minerals 232th 208pb and 238u 206pb systematics were strongly disturbed by variable inputs and or depletions of u th and pb the data suggest that monazite like nuclear waste forms would be good hosts for tetravalent actinides but may release the lanthanides and actinides with lower and higher valencies especially if the fluids are oxidizing or tend to dissolve monazite

the geology of the steenkampskraal monazite deposit south africa implications for ree th cu mineralization in charnockite granulite terranes the ca 1100 ma namaqualand metamorphic complex is host to a number of vein type monazite apatite chalcopyrite magnetite deposits which cluster in a approximately 30 km 2 area 160 km south of the okiep copper district the largest of these veins at steenkampskraal has been mined intermittently since the late 1950s for thorium field relationships demonstrate that the monazite apatite vein of steenkampskraal is parallel to a sheared cuspate anticline strikingly similar to the well known steep structures of the okiep copper district quartz diorite and leucotonalite are found at the core of the anticline in direct contact with the monazite apatite vein and comprise the newly proposed roodewal suite this association is also represented by veins and or dikes of anorthosite norite enderbite and charnockite that have a regional distribution in the steenkampskraal area textural relationships indicate that monazite and orthopyroxene coexist in the charnockite veins and that monazite may be a minor constituent of the quartz diorite electron microprobe analyses of monazite from steen kampskraal and other localities display high tho 2 contents 8 8 8 wt whereas bulk rock ree analyses demonstrate a strong depletion in eu and high la yb ratios sm nd isotope data for the monazite ore and closely associated rocks indicate model ages of 1010 to 1278 ma chondritic uniform reservoir mantle chur or 1450 to 1770 ma depleted mantle resevoir dm the chur model age is preferred as it compares to a published u pb age of 1180 or 40 ma and to our new whole rock u pb age for the ore of 1150 or 15 ma age relationships coupled with the coexistence of orthopyroxene and monazite provide evidence that the mineralized veins of the newly proposed steenkampskraal monazite district formed under water undersaturated conditions in granulite facies t approximately 800 degrees 860 degrees c p approximately 5 6 kbars a finding inconsistent with the previously proposed hydrothermal model the new findings may indicate that the monazite apatite ore was deposited by h 2 o deficient mineralizing fluids of crustal metamorphic or mantle origin however the lithological mineralogical and structural features of the steenkampskraal monazite deposit resemble those of the silica poor magnetite ilmenite apatite rich rocks nelsonite of the koperberg suite in the okiep copper district although age of intrusion sm nd isotope systematics and composition of the mineralization present clear differences for the two areas the structural style and associated intrusive rocks of the roodewal and koperberg suites are very similar protracted fractionation of a rare metals enriched magma yielding anorthositic cumulates and p rich immiscible liquids is therefore proposed as a model for the steenkampskraal deposit and for the nelsonitc occurrences in the okiep copper district the ores of the steenkampskraal monazite district may consequently represent a separate class of polymetallic rare earth element ree mineralization with possible equivalents in other high grade terranes such as in madagascar in mozambique and in the southeastern united states

experimental resetting of the u th pb systems in monazite abraded fragments 200 400 m of a large chemically homogeneous and non metamict brazilian monazite crystal characterised by a concordant u pb ages of 474 1 ma 208pb 206pb 19 5 were hydrothermally treated at varying temperatures with solutions of different compositions product monazites were analysed with scanning electron microscope sem electron microprobe emp secondary ion mass spectrometer sims and isotope dilution thermal ionisation mass spectrometer id tims experiments with pure water over a temperature range of 800 1200 c at 700 mpa and durations ranging from 5 to 60 days showed that even at 1200 c any dissolution and recrystallization of new monazite is confined to the outermost surface of the grain neither pb diffusion at the emp scale nor significant discordancy were observed we performed experiments at 800 and 1000 c for different durations using different fluid compositions at quartz saturation a 10 wt cacl2 fluid a 10 wt srcl2 fluid a 10 wt nacl fluid and a fluid containing nbs 982 pb standard 208pb 206pb 1 for all runs emp traverses revealed no pb diffusion profiles significant overgrowths of newly formed monazite are documented by sem analyses they occurred only in the 1000 c experiments when either cacl2 or pb bearing fluids were present in the cacl2 experiment two zones could be distinguished within the crystal a core possessing the initial monazite composition and a rim consisting of newly formed monazite produced by dissolution precipitation which was enriched in ca and pb free id tims dating of single grains treated with srcl2 and cacl2 solutions at 1000 c are significantly discordant experiments employing the nbs pb standard produced sub concordant monazite for which the 207pb 206pb apparent age has become older than prior to the experiment 544 ma at 800 c and 495 ma at 1000 c the newly grown monazite rim had obviously incorporated pb from the fluid none of our reaction products contained a detectable diffusion profile the only resetting mechanism we detected involved dissolution precipitation the extent of the dissolution precipitation process depends on fluid composition and is a more efficient mechanism than diffusion for controlling the resetting of monazite in natural rocks

micro drilling id tims u pb dating of single monazites a new method to unravel complex poly metamorphic evolutions application to the uht granulites of andriamena north central madagascar in terranes subject to complex metamorphic evolution zircon and monazite u pb system can record successive growth and or resetting episodes conven tional isotope dilution thermal ionisation mass spec trometry id tims dating of fractions or single grains from conventionally separated zircon and monazite populations may produce inaccurate ages a new tech nique combining textural analysis and id tims dating on single monazite crystals is proposed this method is applied directly on thin sections with three successive steps comprising 1 a characterisation of textural rela tionships using electron microprobe analyses and ima ges 2 extraction by micro drilling of selected monazites and 3 u pb dating of each extracted grain by id tims the potential for this in situ dating technique are tested on ultra high temperature uht granulites from north central madagascar four dis tinct events on a single thin section were distinguished the uht metamorphism was dated at 2 5 ga while two retrogression events were dated at 790 and 500 ma finally a single crystal shielded in quartz seems to preserve a pre metamorphic age around 2 7 ga

low temperature replacement of monazite in the ireteba granite southern nevada geochronological implications the ireteba pluton is a relatively homogeneous 64 ma zircon ion probe age two mica granite that was intruded by two 16 ma miocene plutons at depths ranging from 5 to 13 km deeper levels of the ireteba and miocene plutons were ductilely deformed at 15 16 ma at shallow levels remote from the miocene plutons the ireteba granite appears to have experienced little miocene heating and deformation monazites from different portions of the pluton reflect the different histories experienced by the host rock irregularly shaped patchy zones with high huttonite component thsio4 are widespread in monazite at deep levels adjacent to miocene plutons but less common in shallow level rock monazite grains with extensive replacement generally have irregular embayed surfaces in undeformed rocks distant from the miocene plutons monazites are less modified and more nearly euhedral though fine networks of replacement veins are common and irregular rims are evident in some grains secondary monazite from these samples is poorer in huttonite ion probe th pb dating yields 60 65 ma ages for magmatic and some replacement zones in monazite from the shallow samples and veins yield apparent ages as young as mid tertiary monazites from deep samples yield a few 55 65 ma ages for remnant magmatic zones and abundant miocene ages for replacement zones 14 18 ma these data demonstrate extensive miocene replacement of magmatic monazite especially at deep levels near miocene plutons and they suggest an early replacement episode as well both events were probably related to influxes of fluid the first may have been associated with initial solidification of the ireteba pluton and the second with the miocene plutons and or extensional deformation ambient temperatures at the time of replacement indicate that secondary monazite growth occurred at t as low as 400 c or less

records of the evolution of the himalayan orogen from in situ th pb ion microprobe dating of monazite eastern nepal and western garhwal abstract in situ th pb monazite ages from rocks collected along two transects the dudh kosi everest eastern nepal and the bhagirathi river garhwal himalaya india perpendicular to the main central thrust mct suggest a striking continuity of tectonic events across the himalaya the youngest age reported in this study 5 9 0 2 ma mswd 0 4 from matrix monazite grains collected beneath the mct in the garhwal region is consistent with several age data from rocks at similar structural levels in central nepal providing support for widespread late miocene mct activity the lateral parallelism of orogenic events is further manifested by the 20 7 0 1 ma age of a high himalayan leucogranite from an injection complex that outcrops along the dudh kosi everest transect resembling ages of these bodies reported elsewhere the youngest monazite grain analyzed along the dudh kosi everest transect is 10 3 0 8 ma the absence of 7 3 ma monazite ages in eastern nepal may reflect a different nappe structure which obscures the reactivated ramp equivalent exposed in the garhwal and central nepal garnets from the mct hanging wall greater himalayan crystallines and footwall lesser himalaya display different major element zoning and the patterns are useful for constraining the location of the thrust system that separates the two lithologies pressure temperature paths for two upper lesser himalayan garnets that contain monazite inclusions indicate the utility of an in situ methodology to constrain the metamorphic evolution of the shear zone along the dudh kosi everest transect upper lesser himalayan monazite grains from three rocks record a clear signal at 14 5 0 1 ma mswd 8 4 and the 23 ma age that characterizes the hanging wall is notably absent monazites collected within a large scale greater himalayan crystallines fold yield the 14 ma age consistent with the structure forming due to mct related compression paleo mesoproterozoic 1407 35 ma matrix monazite grains are found within an augen gneiss unit located beneath the mct whereas cambro ordovician 436 8 548 17 ma inclusions are preserved within garnets of the greater himalayan crystallines the presence of 45 2 2 1 ma grains from lower structural levels of the greater himalayan crystallines indicates the unit realized conditions conducive for monazite growth during the eocene

phosphorus distribution between potassic alkali feldspar and metaluminous haplogranitic liquid at 200 mpa h 2 o the effect of undercooling on crystal liquid systematics to evaluate the applicability of p2o5 concentration in potassic alkali feldspar as a monitor of p2o5 in melt for undercooled systems crystal melt partitioning for p was evaluated via feldspar growth experiments in p bearing 3 wt p2o5 water saturated haplogranitic liquids at 200 mpa with liquidus undercoolings t of 25 50 100 200 and 300 c increasing undercooling in the range t 25 200 c shows an evolution of crystal morphologies from euhedral and well filled individuals at t 25 50 c to radial clusters with increasingly skeletal habit at greater undercooling experiments at t 100 200 c also document the development of p up to 9 wt p2o5 and si enriched more alkaline boundary layers adjacent to crystals experiments at t 300 c show an additional change in crystallization fabric in which spherulites of skeletal crystals form in open vapor space created by the dissolution of bulk silicate and compositional boundary layers are not observed we interpret the changes in reaction products at t 300 c to indicate conditions below a glass transition hence partition coefficients were not determined for this undercooling values of k d p kfs melt from experiments at t 25 200 c calculated from pairs of crystal and immediately adjacent liquid compositions including boundary layers at higher undercooling are mostly in the range of 0 25 0 55 and show no effective change with increased undercooling essentially no change in k d p kfs melt with undercooling apparently stems from an interplay between boundary layer composition and a change in the substitution mechanism for p in feldspar from alpsi 2 common in peraluminous to metaluminous liquids near equilibrium to increasing proportions of p m si 1 with increased undercooling bulk glass and liquid beyond boundary layers in experiments with significant percentages of crystallization are homogeneous and show pronounced fractionation primarily due to the removal of an orthoclase component because crystallization was still in progress in experiments with t 200 c compositional homogeneity in the bulk liquid requires extremely rapid diffusion of most haplogranite components na k and al apparently resulting from chemical potential gradients stemming from the removal of components from the liquid by crystal growth similar homogeneity and bulk fractionation in experiments with t 300 c requires rapid diffusive equilibration for the alkalis even at temperatures below an apparent glass transition unlike the haplogranite components p is only concentrated in liquid boundary layers t 200 c or low density aqueous vapor t 300 c adjacent to crystals hence the p2o5 contents of melt inclusions likely are not representative of bulk melt concentrations in significantly undercooled systems t 50 100 c

electron microprobe monazite dating of ca 1 71 1 63 ga and ca 1 45 1 38 ga deformation in the homestake shear zone colorado origin and early evolution of a persistent intracontinental tectonic zone the homestake shear zone one of the principal precambrian structures within the colorado mineral belt has a history of tectonism that extends from the proterozoic to the tertiary new field mapping microstructural analysis and electron microprobe u th pb monazite dates define the style kinematics and timing of multistage proterozoic ductile deformation early subhorizontal shearing d1 progressed to northwest southeast crustal shortening d2 during a protracted ca 1710 1630 ma orogeny involving high temperature metamorphism partial melting and emplacement of the ca 1 7 ga cross creek batholith the subvertical northeast trend of the shear zone was established by d2 shortening a major episode of simple shear displacement occurred ca 1 4 ga during emplacement of the st kevin batholith complex kinematics are recorded by 1380 ma southeast side down dextral mylonite zones d3 and post 1380 ma southeast side up dextral ultramylonite pseudotachylyte zones d4 that were both localized in d2 foliation domains the succession of ductile tectonites in the homestake records 300 m y of episodic deformation at progressively shallower crustal levels as colorado evolved from an active accretionary margin 1 8 1 7 ga through crustal assembly 1 7 1 6 ga to a tectonically active continental interior post 1 45 ga the homestake shear zone constitutes a classic example of ductile shear zone reactivation and the development of persistent tectonic zones in the continental lithosphere

monazite chemical composition some implications for monazite geochronology an investigation of the chemical composition of monazite from a number of localities has been carried out samples used include monazites from metamorphic rocks granitic rocks and a hydrothermal ore deposit the ree distribution pattern of monazite varies greatly in accordance with its geological environment a remarkable feature of the monazites studied is that their chondrite normalised ree distribution patterns are mostly uniform between grains within the same sample but differ significantly from sample to sample this characteristic apparently indicates that there is an important effect on the ree distribution of monazite exerted by the host rock or source material from which monazite crystallised another important feature shown by the monazites studied is that monazites in rocks containing garnet as a major mineral show extreme depletion of hree whereas monazites in rocks without garnet or monazite that formed after the garnet breakdown contain significantly higher amounts of y and hree this suggests that the phase assemblage especially garnet plays an important role in the ree distribution of monazites in these rocks the value of ree distribution in monazite is exemplified with regard to the origin of monazite in the lewisian metamorphic rocks which is a fundamental issue in monazite geochronology

formation of monazite via prograde metamorphic reactions among common silicates implications for age determinations three lines of evidence from schists of the great smoky mountains nc indicate that isogradic monazite growth occurred at the staurolite in isograd at 600 c 1 monazite is virtually absent below the staurolite in isograd but is ubiquitous several hundred grains per thin section in staurolite and kyanite grade rocks 2 many monazite grains are spatially associated with biotite coronas around garnets formed via the reaction garnet chlorite muscovite biotite plagioclase staurolite h2o 3 garnets contain high y annuli that result from prograde dissolution of garnet via the staurolite in reaction followed by regrowth and rare monazite inclusions occur immediately outside the annulus and in the matrix but not in the garnet core larger monazite grains also exhibit quasi continuous th zoning with high th cores and low th rims consistent with monazite growth via a single reaction and fractional crystallization during prograde growth common silicates may host sufficient p and lrees that reactions among them can produce observable lree phosphate specifically phosphorus contents of garnet and plagioclase are hundreds of parts per million and dissolution of garnet and recrystallization of plagioclase could form thousands of phosphate grains several micrometers in diameter per thin section lrees may be more limiting but sheet silicates and plagioclase can contain tens to 100 ppm lree so recrystallization of these silicates to lower lree contents could produce hundreds of grains of monazite per thin section monazite ages determined via electron and ion microprobes are 400 ma directly linking prograde barrovian metamorphism of the western blue ridge with the acadian orogeny in contrast to previous interpretations that metamorphism was taconian 450 ma interpretation of ages from metamorphic monazite grains will require prior chemical characterization and identification of relevant monazite forming reactions including reactions previously viewed as involving solely common silicates

monazite u pb and th pb geochronology by ion microprobe with an application to in situ dating of an archean metasedimentary rock abstract monazite grains from nine different precambrian rock samples and having concordant isotope dilution u pb and th pb ages were used to develop and evaluate techniques for u pb th pb and pb pb isotopic dating using an ion microprobe operating at high mass resolution r 5500 1 an unidentified isobar at 203 960 amu complicated the determination of 204 pb in the monazites with higher th but it appeared to have been eliminated when using a slight energy offset the 207 pb 206 pb ratios of individual spots were determined in 10 min analyses to 0 3 0 5 1 of the true values using a 20 m wide o 2 primary beam whereas the uncertainty in the mean of several spots on a single generation of monazite was typically 0 1 0 4 2 instrumental bias in the measured pb uo and pb tho values of individual analyses was monitored using linear relationships between 206 pb uo vs uo 2 uo and 208 pb tho vs uo 2 uo the bias appears to vary somewhat with monazite th content requiring the use of compositionally matched standards individual spot measurements of the 206 pb 238 u and 208 pb 232 th ratios in unknown monazites of low to moderate th can be determined to 2 1 the dating technique was applied to in situ analysis of small monazite inclusions hosted in an amphibolite grade metapelite of archean origin both the contextual setting and the morphology of the monazite grains were found to be important factors in interpreting the timing of growth of the host metamorphic mineral e g garnet staurolite plagioclase euhedral monazite grains armoured in low cao garnet and matrix plagioclase yielded an age of 2548 17 ma interpreted as dating an early episode of low pressure metamorphism partially resorbed monazite within a high cao garnet rim yielded ages of ca 2500 ma but are interpreted as inherited from the first event rather than syn genetic with respect to the growth of this garnet an age of 1755 30 ma was obtained for anhedral monazite associated with late chlorite filled fractures apparently reflecting post tectonic retrogression

analytical perils and progress in electron microprobe trace element analysis applied to geochronology background acquisition interferences and beam irradiation effects electron probe microanalysis epma of accessory minerals such as monazite xenotime and thorite for minor and trace element concentrations and geochronology requires consideration of beam irradiation effects increasing heat and charge as higher current densities and lengthy counting times are employed and requires careful detailed assessment of background intensities and interferences a carbon coat 250 a thickness is generally inadequate for prevention of absorbed current s uctuation and beam damage when using the high current densities applied for high precision e g 200 na focused beam beam irradiation effects include element mobility in monazite resulting in p loss relative to ree coating materials of higher electrical and thermal conductivity are indicated and use of gold 100 a is strongly suggested systematic compositional and therefore age variability can result simply from analytical effects requiring evaluation of all aspects of data acquisition the spectra relevant to measurement of y th pb and u are complex especially in ree bearing minerals acquisition of detailed spectral wavelength scans allows recognition of background and peak interferences as well as curvature background intensities can be extracted directly from scan data by regression x ray mapping allows delineation of domains guiding background acquisition and detailed quantitative analysis minor substitution or s uorescence of unexpected elements can compromise analyses one documented effect being the s uorescence of k in monazite adjacent to or hosted by k feldspar or micas this effect clearly evident within 10 micrometers from k feldspar can result in erroneous u concentrations leading to misinterpretation of rim ages as younger overgrowths absorption edges associated with th also become relevant to the measurement of u at high th concentrations because background intensity is sensitive to variation in average atomic number backgrounds must be acquired from each identi ed domain with particular attention being paid to th variation misapplication of background intensities can result in large age discrepancies for example application of backgrounds obtained from a high th domain in monazite to measurement of a low th domain 1 3 of the amount in the high th domain results in an overestimation of the um background intensity of 0 008 cps na and an overall increase in age of 70 m y

transmission electron microscope study of polyphase and discordant monazites site specific specimen preparation using the focused ion beam technique electron microprobe emp u th pb dating on polyphase and discordant monazites from polymetamorphic granulites of the andriamena unit north central madagascar reveals inconsistent chemical ages to explain these drastic variations transmission electron microscopy tem foils were prepared directly from thin sections by using the focused ion beam technique the most important result of the tem study is the demonstration of the presence of small 50 nm pb rich domains where large variations in emp ages occur we suggest that radiogenic pb was partially reincorporated in monazite during the recrystallization at 790 ma because the excited volume of emp is 4 m3 u th pb dating yielded various apparent older ages without geological significance in addition tem analysis of the foils revealed the presence of an 150 nm wide amorphous zone along the grain boundary of monazite and its host quartz this fe si al rich phase may have formed as a result of fluid activity at 500 ma and the phase s amorphous state may be due to the irradiation from u and th decay in the monazite this demonstrates for the first time the enormous potential of the tem investigations on site specific specimens prepared with the focused ion beam technique for the interpretation of geochronological data

monazite behaviour and age significance in poly metamorphic high grade terrains a case study from the western musgrave block central australia abstract integrated in situ textural chemical and electron microprobe age analysis of monazite grains in a migmatitic metapelitic gneiss from the western musgrave block central australia has identified evidence for multiple events of growth and recrystallisation during poly metamorphism in the mesoproterozoic garnet sillimanite bearing metapelite underwent partial melting and segregation to palaeosome and leucosome during metamorphism between 1330 and 1296 ma with monazite grains in leucosome recording crystallisation at 1300 ma monazite breakdown during melting is inferred to have occurred in the palaeosome during a subsequent granulite facies event at 1200 ma deformation and metamorphism of leucosome and palaeosome resulted in partial disturbance of ages and potential minor growth on 1300 ma monazite in leucosome growth of new high y hree monazite in palaeosome domains occurred during garnet breakdown in the presence of sillimanite to cordierite and spinel as a result of post peak isothermal decompression diffusive enrichment of resorbed garnet rims in y hree suggests garnet breakdown occurred slower than volume diffusion of ree monazite in both palaeosome and leucosome were subsequently partially to penetratively recrystallised during a retrogression event that is suggested to have occurred at 1150 1130 ma the intensity of recrystallisation and disturbance of ages appears linked to proximity to retrogressed garnet porphyroblasts and their occurrence in the relatively reactive or fertile local environments provided by the palaeosome mesosome volumes which caused localised changes in retrogressive fluids towards compositions more aggressive to monazite like reaction textures it is apparent that domainal equilibrium and reaction may control or at least strongly influence monazite ree and u th pb chemistry and hence ages

monazite paragenesis and u pb systematics in rocks of the eastern mojave desert california u s a implications for thermochronometry abstract studies of the paragenesis and u pb systematics of monazite in rocks from the eastern mojave desert california corroborate its potential usefulness as a prograde thermochronometer and in dating granite inheritance unmetamorphosed latham shale and its equivalents at grades ranging from greenschist to upper amphibolite facies are virtually identical in composition monazite is absent in the shale and low grade schists but it is abundant in schists at staurolite and higher grades lower grade schists instead include minute th and ce oxides and unidentified ce poor lree phosphates that apparently are lower temperature precursors to monazite thus monazite originates when the pelite passes through lower amphibolite facies conditions monazites from three upper cretaceous granites yield ages that are strongly discordant upper intercepts of 1 6 1 7 ga are similar to those defined by u pb data for coexisting zircons and coincide with a period of copious magmatism in the mojave crust as the host upper cretaceous granitic magmas were all above 700 c effective closure of the restitic monazites to pb loss must be well in excess of this temperature u pb compositions of monazite from proterozoic granitoids and schist also indicate high pb retentivity taken together these studies support the suggestion that monazite can be an effective prograde thermochronometer at least in pelites it is not usually retained as a detrital mineral but rather forms during moderate temperature metamorphism its u pb system should not be reset by subsequent higher grade metamorphism

redistribution of rare earth elements thorium and uranium over accessory minerals in the course of amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism the role of apatite and monazite in orthogneisses from southwestern norway the amphibolite to granulite facies transition has been studied in a high k calc alkaline hornblende biotite k feldspar megacrystic augen gneiss series from the rogaland vest agder rog va sector of the sveconorwegian province southwest norway hornblende begins to break down mainly to clinopyroxene at the cpx in isograd and biotite mainly to orthopyroxene at the opx in isograd abbreviations for minerals following kretz 1983 the magmatic accessory mineral association comprises titanite and allanite which begin to break down before the cpx in isograd titanite is preserved as relict inclusions in other minerals at higher grade monazite and thorite formed in the breakdown of allanite monazite abundance reaches a maximum between the cpx in and opx in isograds the middle and heavy rare earth element m hrees except eu content of apatite steeply increases with increasing metamorphic grade and is directly correlated to the decrease of the modal abundances of titanite hornblende and biotite the u contents of apatite are low and do not increase with metamorphic grade the light rare earth elements lrees and th content of apatite are not correlated to the breakdown of allanite around the cpx in isograd but increase around the opx in isograd a simplified equation is proposed for monazite crystallisation in the vicinity of the cpx in isograd that accounts for the allanite titanite and hornblende breakdowns and the m hree substitution in apatite 3 m hree 2o3in hornblende and litanite 3 lree 2in allaniteo3 2ca5 po4 3apatite f oh 6sio2quartz 6 lree pmonaziteo4 2ca2 m hree 3 sio4 3 f oh lessingite in apatite 6caoin plagioclase at the opx in isograd the increase of lrees and th content of apatite results either from the breakdown of some monazite 3 lree po4monazite 3sio2quartz 4caoin plagioclase f2 h2o fluid ca5 po4 3 f oh apatiteca2 lree 3 sio4 3 f oh less ingite in apatite or the breakdown of the remaining allanite 3 lree 2o3in allanite 6sio2quartz 4caoin plagioclase f2 h2o fluid 2ca2 lree 3 sio4 3 f oh lessingite in apatite the release of fluorine from the breakdown of biotite at the opx in isograd may increase apatite stability relatively to monazite in the granulite facies when compared to amphibolite facies the granulite facies augen gneisses do not show any u or th depletion this means that changes in the accessory mineral associations and the simultaneous breakdown of hydrous minerals at the amphibolite granulite facies transition do not inevitably result in depleted granulite facies rocks but rather to an isochemical element redistribution the coexistence of small amounts of metamorphic monazite and of relict inclusions of titanite in upper amphibolite facies augen gneisses suggests that high k calc alkaline orthogneisses are a suitable material to date with the u pb method prograde path of amphibolite facies regional metamorphism on monazite and the cooling path on titanite

rare earth and trace element mobility in mid crustal shear zones insights from the mont blanc massif western alps the behaviour of rare earth elements ree during fluid rock interaction in mid crustal shear zones has received little attention despite their potential for mass balance calculation and isotopic tracing during deformation in this study several cases of large ree mobility during alpine fluid driven shear zone development in the pre alpine granitic basement of the mont blanc massif are considered on a regional scale the undeformed granite compositions range within 5 wt sio2 70 5 75 3 wt and magmatic chemical variations are of the order of 10 20 ascribed to minor effects of crystal fractionation major and trace element mobility observed in shear zones largely exceeds these initial variations shear zones developed a range of mineral assemblages as a result of shearing at mid crustal depths at not vert similar0 5 gpa 400 c five main shear zone assemblages involve muscovite chlorite epidote actinolite and calcite respectively as major phases in most cases selective enrichments of light or heavy ree and y ta hf are observed ree mobility is unrelated to deformation style cataclastic mylonitic the intensity of strain and to the shear zone s major metamorphic mineral assemblages instead the changes in ree concentrations are ascribed to the alteration of pre existing magmatic ree bearing minerals during deformation related fluid rock interaction and to the syntectonic precipitation of metamorphic ree bearing minerals mainly monazite bastnasite aeschynite and tombarthite minor proportions 2 of these accessory phases with grain sizes mostly 20 m account for enrichments of up to 5 1 compared to the initial granite whole rock ree budget the stability of the ree phases appears to be largely dependent on the altering fluid composition ree mobility is ascribed to changes in ph and to the availability of co32 po42 and so42 ligands in the fluid such processes are likely to influence the mobility of ree y hf and ta in shear zones

monazite u pb dating of staurolite grade metamorphism in pelitic schists a study of the occurrence of and relations between rare earth element ree minerals in pelitic schists indicates that monazite forms at or near the p and t of the staurolite isograd samples at staurolite grade from the silurian perry mountain formation in the rumford quadrangle of maine yield monazite in sufficient quantities to permit accurate dating of the metamorphic events forming the monazites the bulk chemistry of the metapelites as seen in the major element abundances and ree patterns does not vary significantly across the study area thus the appearance and disappearance of ree phases is assumed to reflect changes in metamorphic grade in a sample from the biotite zone scanning electron microscope and microprobe studies show allanite and monazite intimately associated on a 10 m scale the texture suggest that metastable detrital monazite breaks down distributing its ree components to allanite from samples below staurolite grade in which monazite is not present our observations suggest that rees are partitioned into allanite at or near the staurolite isograd monazite forms as a metamorphic mineral initiating its role as a geochronometer garnet biotite geothermometry on samples at this grade from this and other studies places constraints on the minimum temperature necessary to form monazite 525 c 25 c at 3 1 0 25 kbar a total of 15 separates from nine schist samples ranging up to sillimanite grade have been dated each date is remarkably concordant even though petrologic and textural studies by previous workers have shown that the rocks in the area have been affected by at least three metamorphic episodes calculations indicate insignificant th disequilibrium in these monazites the conditions associated with the metamorphic events suggest that monazite remains closed to lead loss provided that subsequent metamorphisms are at or below sillimanite grade two distinct metamorphic events are resolved one at around 400 ma and one at about 370 ma the latter was due to thermal effects of a nearby pluton that yields concordant monazite ages of 363 ma this work suggests that in addition to dating plutonism and high grade metamorphism monazite should be viewed as a reliable geochronometer for moderate metamorphism of pelitic schists

a model for monazite melt equilibrium and application to the generation of granitic magmas abstract in order to model the behaviour of zr hf ti p u th y and the rare earth elements ree in the continental crust the parameters which control the equilibria between accessory minerals and granitic melts must be determined this paper proposes equations for the equilibrium between monazite and ca poor felsic melts in a first step all the light ree are considered as a single component and an equation describing monazite solubility is deduced from the available experimental data in a second step the fractionation of ree by monazite is investigated on the basis of a natural example of coexisting monazite and obsidian from macusani peru the solubility of monazite can be used as a thermometer based on the total ree content of natural magmatic rocks application of ree thermometry to various peraluminous rock series suggests that it is a reliable tool for determining temperatures of magmatic processes the equation governing ree fractionation by monazite is used to discuss genetic relationships between a melt and a presumed parental rock using the composition of the monazite in the parental rocks and the ree pattern of the daughter rock this method has been applied successfully to high himalayan manaslu and tibetan slab granites it is suggested that detailed petrographical work on monazite including electron microprobe analyses and sem imaging of its internal structures combined with the model presented here can be a useful tool for deciphering the genesis and the differentiation of peraluminous granitic magmas in the continental crust

monazite xenotime miscibility gap thermometry i an empirical calibration rare earth element ree and yttrium concentrations of coexisting monazite and xenotime were determined from a suite of seven metapelites from the variscan fold belt in ne bavaria germany the metapelites include a continuous prograde mainly low p 3 5 kbar metamorphic profile from greenschist c 400 c to lower granulite facies conditions c 700 c the lree la sm are incorporated preferentially in monoclinic monazite reo9 polyhedron whereas the hree plus y are concentrated in tetragonal xenotime reo8 polyhedron the major element concentrations of both phases in all rocks are very similar and do not depend on metamorphic grade monazite consists mainly of la ce and nd la0 20 0 23 ce0 41 0 45 nd0 15 0 18 po4 all other elements are below 6 mol likewise xenotime consists mainly of ypo4 with some dy and gd solid solutions y0 76 0 80 dy0 05 0 07 gd0 04 0 06 in contrast the minor hree concentrations in monazite increase strongly with increasing metamorphic grade y dy and gd increase by a factor of 3 5 from greenschist to granulite facies rocks monazite crystals often show zonation with cores low in hree and rims high in hree that is interpreted as growth zonation attained during prograde metamorphism similarly sm and nd in xenotimes increase by a factor of 3 4 with increasing metamorphic grade prograde zonation in single crystals of xenotime was not observed the xhree y in monazite and xlree in xenotime of the seven rocks define two limbs along the strongly asymmetric miscibility gap from c 400 c to 700 c the empirical calibration of the monazite miscibility gap limb coexisting with xenotime is appropriate for geothermometry due to its contents of u and th monazite has often been used for u pb age determination the combination of our empirical thermometer on prograde zoned monazite along with possible age determination of zoned single crystals may provide information about prograde branches of temperature time paths

significance of in situ sims chronometry of zoned monazite from the lewisian granulites northwest scotland abstract in situ studies of lewisian metamorphic monazites show them to be strongly zones in th content th u ratio and 207 pb 206 pb age traverses across compositional zones of individual monazites by sims and empa show that there are no resolvable shifts between 232 th 238 u and 208 pb 206 pb ratios and between th and pb contents in any of the profiles obtained furthermore the difference in 208 pb 232 th ages between two zones of monazites in the same thin section is indistinguishable from the difference in 207 pb 206 pb ages determined by sims these observations together with simple models suggest that transport of pb relative to th and u did not occur significantly during younger e g the laxfordian events in the lewisian and the ages preserved in these zoned monazites are close to concordant moreover monazites having different compositions yield indistinguishable 207 pb 206 pb ages which suggests that the closure temperature of the u pb system in these monazites is not significantly dependent upon their composition consequently the pattern of age distribution observed in the monazites is taken to reflect the metamorphic history of the lewisian the results are consistent with the recent interpretations of the lewisian thermal history which suggest two high grade metamorphic events separated by 200 ma

an improved u th pb age calculation for electron microprobe dating of monazite abstract determination of u th pb ages using the electron probe microanalyser epma is an inexpensive alternative method for dating monazite the method is rapid and reliable both for simple monogenenetic monazite and for complex polygenetic monazite having undergone metamorphic events involving fluid interaction and recrystallization the main limitation of the method is its rather poor precision i e 45 to 120 ma for ages ranging from 300 to 3000 ma calculated on each spot the precision is limited by pb content and by counting statistics which cannot give precision better than 2 for individual determinations on u th and pb even at high levels a procedure that uses the new th pb vs u pb diagram to improve the calculated precision on u th pb ages gives results to within 5 to 15 ma for ages ranging from 300 to 3000 ma with complex polygenetic monazite in which either the points show large scattering indicated by a large mswd or the regression line exhibits a slope very different from neighbour theoretical isochrons the procedure must be applied separately on homogeneous domains only this makes it possible to distinguish between events separated by a gap of 20 to 60 ma according to the range of ages concerned i e 300 to 3000 ma several examples are given to illustrate these systematics

detection of inherited monazite in the manaslu leucogranite by 208pb232th ion microprobe dating crystallization age and tectonic implications abstract although leucogranites are among the least petrologically variable of all igneous rocks ironically they are among the most difficult to reliably date the high himalayan leucogranites have been the subject of numerous geochronological investigations because of their interrelationship with the most significant tectonic features of that mountain belt for a variety of reasons linked to the minimum melt composition of these leucogranites these dating studies have not been entirely successful we report results of a new ion microprobe dating method based on the decay of 232 th to 208 pb in monazite that has directly revealed the presence of inherited pb in monazite from the manalsu granite casting doubt on its previously accepted age monazite ages obtained from this leucogranite yield two distinct populations a large number of ages with a normal distribution and mean age of 22 4 0 5 ma 2 s e that we interpret to be the crystallization age and a smaller inherited fraction with an age of ca 600 ma because formation of the granite is thought to be related to slip on the main central thrust both this date and a second less precise result from a structurally similar pluton near mt everest indicate that the main central thrust was active in the interval 24 22 ma but do not constrain its initiation together with crosscutting relationships these data require that movement on the north himalayan fault occurred prior to 22 ma at both locations

a three dimensional method for calculating independent chemical u pb and th pb ages of accessory minerals abstract previous theoretical considerations on the chemical u th total pb dating method failed to distinguish between thorogenic and uranogenic lead however it can be shown that the data points are located on a plane in the three dimensional tho2 pbo uo2 space the calculation of the best fit plane yields a slope in the tho2 pbo and uo2 pbo coordinate projections and an initial pbo value from the two slopes th pb and u pb ages can be calculated independently the method described in this paper is applied to monazites from the hercynian g4 granite of the fichtelgebirge germany th pb and u pb ages were calculated at 323 20 ma and 304 15 ma respectively the intercept value close to zero indicates that no significant amounts of common lead are present in the monazites studied

relative and absolute timing of gold mineralization along the meliadine trend nunavut canada evidence for paleoproterozoic gold hosted in an archean greenstone belt the meliadine area of the neoarchean rankin inlet greenstone belt is located on the western shore of hudson bay canada and is host to several important orogenic or mesothermal gold deposits supracrustal rocks comprise alternating southeast striking panels of mafic volcanic and clastic sedimentary rocks both of which are host to banded iron formation the dominant structural element is the pyke break a several kilometer wide high strain zone characterized by multiple foliations and regionally important shear zones gold mineralization is spatially associated with these shear zones the maximum age of mineralization is constrained by the observation that auriferous veins crosscut ca 2450 ma mafic dikes and a minimum age is constrained by undeformed postore lamprophyre dikes emplaced at ca 1830 ma highly concordant shrimp determined ages on hydrothermal monazite indicate auriferous veining occurred at ca 1850 ma these relative and absolute timing constraints suggest gold was concentrated in neoarchean supracrustal rocks during paleoproterozoic tectonothermal activity that was widespread in the western churchill province at ca 1850 ma these observations do not preclude the presence of archean gold occurrences in the rankin inlet greenstone belt but no early deformed ores can be linked to auriferous veins introduced at ca 1850 ma suggesting remobilization from earlier formed deposits was not a factor in concentrating gold at meliadine

comparative isotopic and chemical geochronometry of monazite with implications for u th pb dating by electron microprobe an example from metamorphic rocks of the eastern wyoming craton u s a polygenetic monazite grains in diverse precambrian crystalline rocks from the black hills south dakota have been analyzed in situ by ion and electron microprobe methods shrimp and emp to evaluate the accuracy and precision of emp ages determined using a new analytical protocol that incorporates improved background acquisition and interference corrections parallel evaluations were conducted by comparing emp chemical and shrimp isotopic ages at regional rock and grainscales the monazite data set includes 354 emp chemical analyses from 26 grains in six metamorphic rocks which resolve into 54 age composition domains and 31 shrimp isotopic ages from 13 grains in one of the rocks with six grains microanalyzed in common by the two methods the data set also includes monazite bearing garnets in two of the rocks whose isotopic compositions were analyzed using pb stepwise leaching pbsl methods both the emp and shrimp data sets reveal a continuum of apparent monazite ages spanning a 1790 1680 ma timeframe with a relatively high probability of ages at 1755 and 1715 ma that correspond spatially to core and rim domains pbsl ages of 1742 and 1734 ma obtained from monazite bearing garnet in two rocks are intermediate compared to the corresponding emp ages and are thereby interpreted as mixed ages emp data for two grains in the structurally deepest of the six rocks record 1785 and 1755 ma ages in the cores and higher y and lower th rims respectively and these results are duplicated by shrimp ages in these and or other grains from the same rock overall the emp shrimp and pbsl ages are internally consistent at the various scales of observation which serves to validate emp chemical dating as an accurate and precise method of discerning monazite age populations in polymetamorphic terrains the emp data set is interpreted geologically as res ecting multiple episodes of monazite growth that are provisionally related to known metamorphic events in the black hills taking the most precise emp data at face value it is possible to resolve the timing of the two older events at 1784 4 ma or 1786 6 ma and 1756 3 ma or 1753 4 ma with 95 con dence these events are considered to be related to sequential episodes of n directed thrusting and e w compression associated with paleoproterozoic crustal assembly in the mid continent a younger metamorphism related to granite intrusion known to have occurred at 1715 3 ma is dated independently at 1717 2 ma from the emp monazite ages

electron probe ultrachron microchronometry of metamorphic monazite unraveling the timing of polyphase thermotectonism in the easternmost wyoming craton black hills south dakota a metapelite from the easternmost wyoming craton black hills south dakota has been analyzed by microstructural methods to unravel polyphase deformational history associated with 1800 1700 ma assembly of southern laurentia three deformational fabrics are recognized in oriented thin sections an ene trending s 1 fabric preserved as oblique inclusion trails in garnet porphyroblasts a nnw trending s 2 fabric preserved as microlithons in the rock matrix and a flattening fabric s 3 which transposed s 1 s 2 and dominates the matrix a complex monazite porphyroblast has been analyzed in situ with the electron microprobe ultrachron to constrain the timing of s 1 s 3 fabric formation associated with monazite growth the core of this grain uniquely preserves the s 1 s 2 fabrics as sigmoidal inclusion trails the mean total pb age of this domain is 1750 10 ma all dates reported at 95 confidence n 39 spots which is equivalent to the published 2 0 7 pb 2 0 6 pb age for the same domain these results validate the total pb dating method in general and the ultrachron in particular for reliable age determination in low th monazite and are interpreted as 1750 ma minimum ages for the s 1 s 2 fabrics and sequential d 1 d 2 collisional events that imposed them n directed arc accretion and e w continental collision respectively a higher th y rim of this same rosetta grain truncates the s 1 s 2 sigmoid and is associated with resorption textures in garnet porphyroblasts coupled release of y and an s 3 fabric that pervasively overprinted s 1 s 2 in the rock matrix the mean ultrachron date of this domain is 1692 5 ma n 17 spots which is slightly younger that the published isotopic age for all monazite rims combined these results support a 1715 1690 ma timeframe for localized doming d 3 related to granite magmatism the onset of which has been dated independently at 1715 3 ma the timing of post d 3 cooling through 350 and 300 c is constrained by 4 0 ar 3 9 ar dates of 1610 and 1480 ma obtained for separates of d 3 matrix muscovite and biotite respectively which are interpreted as closure ages this study shows that fabrics in poly deformed rocks can be dated by linking monazite spot ages to key microtextures further the results of this micrometer scale study enhance previous knowledge of local thermotectonism black hills and regional terrane assembly laurentia

accessory phase controls on the geochemistry of crustal melts and restites produced during water undersaturated partial melting the profound geochemical conseqences of accessory phase behaviour during partial melting of highgrade metapelites are demonstrated with reference to two geochemically distinct crustal melts produced by biotite dehydration melting reactions under granulite facies kbar 860 cc conditions these two leucogneiss suites from the brattstrand bluffs coastline eastern antarctica have similar field relations transport distances 10 100 s of metres and major element chemistry type 1 leucogneisses have low zr th and lree positive eu anomalies and zr zr and lreet lreet values less than 1 0 i e less than required to saturate the melt mass balance constraints suggest that these melts have been extracted before equilibration with host melanosomes the dry peraluminous nature of vapour undersaturated melts inhibits monazite and zircon solubility and results in concentration of these phases in the residue melts are consequently depleted in lree and hree melanosomes show complementary enrichment in lree while hree patterns are dominated by residual garnet type 2 leucogneisses in contrast have strongly enriched zr th and lree abundances negative eu anomalies and zr zr and lreet lreet 1 resulting from accessory phase entrainment vapour absent partial melting under moderate 6 8 kbar pressure granulite facies conditions of a pelitic source containing monazite is likely to give disequilibrium melts depleted in lree and hree as monazite and garnet are concentrated in the residue if temperatures are high enough 850 870 c to permit relatively large degrees of partial melting then the feldspar component of the source will be removed almost completely giving melts with large positive eu anomalies melts formed under vapour present conditions are unlikely to show such extreme lree and hree depletion or positive eu anomalies even at high degrees of partial melting disequilibrium melting coupled with source entrainment could fortuitously produce ree and trace element signatures similar to those typical of s type granites and usually ascribed to equilibrium melting conditions

geochronological constraints on the evolution of high pressure felsic granulites from an integrated electron microprobe and id tims geochemical study abstract a combined geochronological geochemical and nd isotopic study of felsic high pressure granulites from the snowbird tectonic zone northern saskatchewan canada has been carried out through the application of integrated electron microprobe and isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry id tims techniques the terrane investigated is a 400 km 2 domain of garnet kyanite k feldspar bearing quartzofeldspathic gneisses monazite in these granulites preserves a complex growth history from 2 6 to 1 9 ga with well armored high y and th grains included in garnet yielding the oldest u pb dates at 2 62 to 2 59 ga in contrast matrix grains and inclusions in garnet rims that are not well armored are depleted in y and th and display more complicated u pb systematics with multiple age domains ranging from 2 5 to 2 0 ga 1 9 ga monazite occurs exclusively as matrix grains zircon is typically younger 2 58 to 2 55 ga than the oldest monazite sm nd isotope analysis of single monazite grains and whole rock samples indicate that inclusions of archean monazite in garnet are similar in isotopic composition to the whole rock signature with a limited range of slightly negative initial nd in contrast grains that contain a paleoproterozoic component show more positive initial nd most simply interpreted as reflecting derivation from a source involving consumption of garnet and general depletion of hree s our preferred interpretation is that the oldest monazite dates record igneous crystallization of the protolith the ca 2 55 ga dates in zircon and monazite record an extensive melting event during which garnet and ternary feldspar formed very high pressure 1 5 gpa metamorphism during the paleoproterozoic at 1 9 ga produced kyanite from garnet breakdown and resulted in limited growth of new monazite and zircon in the case of monazite this is likely due to the armoring and sequestration of early formed monazite such that it could not participate in metamorphic reactions during the high pressure event as well as the depletion of the ree s due to melt loss following the early melting event

microprobe monazite geochronology putting absolute time into microstructural analysis abstract high resolution compositional mapping and dating of monazite on the electron microprobe is a powerful addition to microstructural analysis and an increasingly important tool for tectonic analysis microprobe monazite geochronology can be an efficient reconnaissance tool for evaluating metamorphic and deformational age domains but more importantly its in situ nature and high spatial resolution offer an entirely new level of structurally and texturally specific geochronologic data that can be used to put absolute time constraints on p t d paths constrain the rates of metamorphic and deformational processes and provide new links between metamorphism and deformation microprobe geochronology is particularly applicable to three persistent microstructural microtextural problem areas 1 constraining the chronology of metamorphic assemblages 2 constraining the timing of deformational fabrics and 3 interpreting other geochronological results although some monazite generations can be directly tied to metamorphism or deformation at present the most common constraints rely on monazite inclusion relations in porphyroblasts that in turn can be tied to the deformation and or metamorphic history microprobe mapping and dating allow geochronology to be incorporated into the routine microstructural analytical process resulting in a new level of integration of time t into p t d histories

monazite th pb age depth profiling the significant capabilities of the ion microprobe for thermochronometric investigations of geologic materials remain largely unexploited whereas sup 208 pb sup 232 th spot analysis allows approximately 10 mm scale imaging of pb loss profiles or overgrowths in sectioned monazite grains the spatial resolution offered by depth profiling into the surface region of natural crystals is more than two orders of magnitude higher the authors document here the ability of the high resolution ion microprobe to detect sup 208 pb sup 232 th age differences of 1 m y with better than 0 05 micro m depth resolution in the outer micron of tertiary monazites from the hanging wall of the himalayan main central thrust age gradients on this scale are inaccessible to ion microprobe spot analysis or conventional thermal ionization mass spectrometry interpretation of the near surface sup 208 pb distributions with available monazite pb diffusion data illustrates the potential of the approach for recovering continuous high temperature thermal history information not previously available

electron microprobe observations of pb diffusion in metamorphosed detrital monazites electron microprobe analyses have been made on monazite grains from paragneiss samples in the andalusite sillimanite transition 620 15 c and sillimanite orthoclase 680 15 c zones of the cretaceous ryoke metamorphic belt southwest japan monazites from pelitic gneisses are of metamorphic origin euhedral to subhedral and chronologically homogeneous giving chemical th u total pb isochron chime ages of 98 8 3 3 98 0 3 2 ma two psammitic gneisses of individual metamorphic grade contain both metamorphic monazite grains and detrital ones as old as ca 1700 ma most detrital monazite grains are heterogeneous in the tho2 and uo2 concentrations and have multiple or single rims as young as ca 100 ma several detrital monazite grains are well rounded in form exhibit homogeneous th and u distributions and show a pb diffusion profile in the margin the width of the diffusion zones is approximately constant throughout grains from each psammitic gneiss 18 22 m for 620 c and 48 58 m for 680 c assuming the isothermal diffusion of pb from homogeneous monazite spheres during a 5 ma duration of peak metamorphism we obtain diffusion coefficients of 1 9 0 3 10 21 and 1 5 0 3 10 20 cm2 s at 620 c and 680 c respectively these data derive an activation energy of 2 44 2 85 1 26 105 j mol and a frequency factor of 3 4 10 7 8 5 10 12 2 2 107 cm2 s taking account of uncertainties of 15 c in the temperatures and of 20 in the diffusion coefficients the diffusion parameters obtained from natural samples in this study provide a reliable insight into the closure temperature for pb in monazite that has been poorly understood so far

electron microprobe age mapping of monazite high resolution x ray maps of th u pb and y in monazite can be used to construct age maps which reveal the continuous spatial distribution of ages in a single grain of monazite the age mapping algorithm and three examples are presented to illustrate the capabilities and applications of this mapping technique the insights it can provide into monazite geochronology in general and its limitations compared to electron microprobe emp quantitative dating and other in situ geochronologic techniques age maps offer critical information for unraveling metamorphic and tectonic histories and for interpreting results from other geochronologic techniques and they are a valuable aid for rigorously locating in situ analytical points age mapping also can be used to better understand the behavior of the u th pb system in monazite during metamorphism deformation and s uid circulation events age maps presented in this paper reveal unsuspected age heterogeneities on the micrometer scale like a now healed fracture not visible in back scattered electron bse images or young domains less than 5 m in width located inside an older core in both cases using age maps as a template for locating in situ analysis points will minimize the peril of age mixing and erroneous geological interpretations in addition to providing critical information for illustrating and interpreting the history of complex polygenetic monazite age mapping may ultimately lead to a better understanding of the processes involved with monazite growth and recrystallization and thus even more powerful applications of the monazite geochronometer the agemap program is available in a windows version and can be downloaded from the internet at the following address http www geo umass edu probe agemap

x ray diffraction study of brabantite monazite solid solutions abstract we synthesized compounds with stoichiometry of natural brabantite m2 th po4 2 with m2 ca cd sr pb ba at 1 bar 1200 c and 2 5 kbar 700 c those compounds were studied by powder x ray diffraction and electron microprobe for ca sr and pb we obtained always crystals with the monazite structure for cd the monazite structure is obtained at 1 bar but not at 2 5 kbar for ba we obtained the monazite structure only at 2 5 kbar the unit cell parameters of the compounds with monazite structure vary regularly with the size of the m2 ion we studied also the solid solution lapo4 m2 th po4 2 at 1200 c 1 bar the solid solutions for cd ca and sr are continuous and the unit cell parameters vary linearly with the degree of substitution for pb the solid solution is continuous but the unit cell parameters do not vary linearly for ba there is a miscibility gap with a maximum of about 50 mol of bath po4 2 in lapo4 these results have several consequences for u th pb geochronology of monazite and for utilization of monazite as a nuclear waste ceramic

crystal chemistry of the monazite and xenotime structures monazite and xenotime the re p04 dimorphs are the most ubiquitous rare earth re minerals yet accurate structure studies of the natural phases have not been reported here we report the results of high precision structure studies of both the natural phases and the synthetic re p04 phases for all individual stable rare earth elements monazite is monoclinic p2 n and xenotime is isostructural with zircon space group 14 amd both atomic arrangements are based on 001 chains of intervening phosphate tetrahedra and re polyhedra with a reogpolyhedron in xenotime that accommodates the heavy lanthanides tb lu in the synthetic phases and a re09 polyhedron in monazite that preferentially incorporates the larger light rare earth elements la gd as the structure transforms from xenotime to monazite the crystallographic properties are comparable along the 00i chains with structural adjustments to the different sizes of re atoms occurring principally in 00i there are distinct similarities between the structures that are evident when their atomic arrangements are projected down 001 in that projection the chains exist in 100 planes with two planes per unit cell in monazite the planes are offset by 2 2 a along 010 relative to those in xenotime in order to accommodate the larger light re atoms the shift of the planes in monazite allows the re atom in that phase to bond to an additional 02 atom to complete the re09 polyhedron

denudation history of the high t p ryoke metamorphic belt southwest japan constraints from chime monazite ages of gneisses and granitoids chime chemical th u total pb isochron method monazite ages were determined for gneisses and granitoids from the eastern and western parts of the ryoke belt separated by about 500 km the monazite ages for the gneisses are concentrated between 102 and 98 ma and are interpreted as the time of monazite formation under lower amphibolite facies conditions the peak metamorphism seems to be contemporaneous with the emplacement of the geologically oldest plutons that are dated at c 95 ma in both the eastern and western parts in the eastern part plutonism continued from c 95 ma to c 68 ma at intervals of 2 10 ma whereas in the western part it ceased at c 85 ma the chime monazite ages agree well with the relative age of granitoids derived from intrusive relationships of granitoids in both parts these lines of evidence are incompatible with a current view that the plutonometamorphism in the ryoke belt becomes younger towards the east the chime monazite ages coupled with available data on the depth at which the ryoke metamorphism took place and the emplacement of individual plutons show that the western part was eroded more rapidly about 1 5 mm year 1 than the eastern part about 0 8 mm year 1 over the time span from 91 to 85 ma the denudation rates agree well with those in active orogenic belts like the alps and himalayas

coupling of anatectic reactions and dissolution of accessory phases and the sr and nd isotope systematics of anatectic melts from a metasedimentary source advances in field observations and experimental petrology on anatectic products have motivated us to investigate the geochemical consequences of accessory mineral dissolution and nonmodal partial melting processes incorporation of apatite and monazite dissolution into a muscovite dehydration melting model allows us to examine the coupling of the rb sr and sm nd isotope systems in anatectic melts from a muscovite bearing metasedimentary source modeling results show that 1 the sm nd ratios and nd isotopic compositions of the melts depend on the amount of apatite and monazite dissolved into the melt and 2 the relative proportion of micas muscovite and biotite and feldspars plagioclase and k feldspar that enter the melt is a key parameter determining the rb sr and 87 sr 86 sr ratios of the melt furthermore these two factors are not in practice independent in general nonmodal partial melting of a pelitic source results in melts following one of two paths in e nd 87 sr 86 sr ratio space a higher temperature fluid absent path path 1 represents those partial melting reactions in which muscovite biotite dehydration and apatite but not monazite dissolution play a significant role the melt will have elevated rb sr 87 sr 86 sr sm nd and e nd values in contrast a lower temperature fluid fluxed path path 2 represents those partial melting reactions in which muscovite biotite dehydration plays an insignificant role and apatite but not monazite stays in the residue the melt will have lower rb sr 87 sr 86 sr sm nd and e nd values than its source the master variables controlling both accessory phase dissolution and hence the sm nd system and melting reaction and hence the rb sr systematics are temperature and water content the complexity in sr nd isotope systematics in metasediment derived melts as suggested in this study will help us to better understand the petrogenesis for those granitic plutons that have a significant crustal source component

geochronology of polygenetic monazites constrained by in situ electron microprobe th u total lead determination implications for lead behaviour in monazite abstract monazite grains are generally concordant and with an electron microprobe give th u total pb isochron ages in agreement with conventional u pb data monazites from four samples of post archean migmatite from the ivory coast record two main ages an archean age at 2 80 ga partly overprinted by a late migmatization event at 2 03 ga the in situ electron microprobe determination has also shown a third event that systematically appears at 2 72 ga for all the monazites from two of the four studied rocks the three events at 2 80 2 72 and 2 03 ga recorded by the th u total pb system in monazite were each obtained on independent homogeneous parts of a single grain with no sign of pb diffusion thus the oldest monazite remained closed during a high grade resetting migmatization at a temperature estimated at around 700 c and also remained closed during the growth of secondary monazite conventional u pb data isotope dilution on monazite from the same rocks did not allow precise age determinations because the representative points were highly up to 83 discordant and did not fit well along a chord in the concordia diagram the u pb isotope dilution method gave a lower intercept age of 2029 25 ma in agreement with the electron microprobe age although with an unusually high uncertainty due to a poor fit of the data the pb evaporation method gave an old archean age at 2830 7 ma and proterozoic ages ranging from 2417 10 to 2074 7 ma thus although the oldest archean age obtained with the pb evaporation and electron microprobe methods is similar within the analytical error the proterozoic ages obtained by the pb evaporation method are significantly older than the th u total pb proterozoic age obtained with the electron microprobe this discrepancy is presumed to be due to the influence in the pb evaporation method of radiogenic lead contained within archean zones of the monazite grains in other words it means that migmatization took place later than 2074 7 ma and probably around 2030 ma the second archean event at 2 72 ga revealed by high spatial resolution of the electron microprobe could not be determined by other methods the th u total pb method appears to be an inexpensive alternative method for dating simple monazites with a precision close to 20 ma even if the u pb isotopic dilution technique remains the reference method moreover owing to the very high spatial resolution 1 m of the electron microprobe it appears to have no competitor for dating complex polygenetic monazites especially when more than two events are recorded homogeneous zones of different ages coexist in a single grain with no major indication of lead diffusion a procedure for age and error calculations is defined

age dating of individual grains of uraninite in rocks from electron microprobe analyses it is shown that an electron microprobe analysis of the u th and pb content of a single uraninite uo2 grain may be used to calculate the age of formation of that grain this is known as a chemical age examples are shown for a range of natural samples with a wide range of ages comparison with ages derived from isotopic measurements shows the results to be valid approximate formulae which have been proposed for the calculation of the chemical age are not sufficiently reliable especially where the th content is high and for older ages a method for calculating the age by iteration is presented this uses the full and exact formula and is shown to produce a reliable age for the uraninite compared to isotopic measurements the method is particularly useful for samples where the minerals and mineral textures record information on more than one event two examples of samples recording information on dual ages are discussed to show how these ages can be related to events in the formation of the host rocks in one example an alluvial heavy mineral concentrate is shown to contain uraninites from two distinct sources with significantly different ages in the other example two phases of u mineralisation are distinguished in the same rock sample one phase relates to the genesis of the sediments from which the rock was formed the second phase records remobilisation of the u during later tectonic movement

a metamorphic history from micron scale 207pb 206pb chronometry of archean monazite ion microprobe measurements of pb isotope ratios in monazites have been obtained in situ from thin sections using the cambridge isolab 120 molecular interferences are sufficiently resolved at an rp of 6500 to allow 2 7pb z 6pb dating of monazite with precisions as low as 4 5 ma 2 r the results presented here provide important information on the chronological history of the late archean metamorphism of the wind river range wyoming usa matrix monazites and monazite inclusions in garnets from a metapelite from the northern wind river range have been analysed by sims in a previous study peak metamorphic conditions t 800 c p 8 1 kb were estimated using inclusion assemblages in garnets from this same sample isolated monazite inclusions in garnet yield 2 7pb z 6pb age estimates of 2781 6 to 2809 10 ma those along fractures yield lower ages 2603 2687 ma which are similar to tims and sims ages of matrix monazites a single large 500 xm monazite grain locally preserves growth zoning but has a recrystallised core and a resorbed recrystallised rim age estimates for these three regions are 2788 9 ma 2663 4 and 2523 6 ma respectively thus the inclusion assemblages of sharp and essene may record peak metamorphic conditions at ca 2 8 ga and indicate a phase of metamorphism that predates by over 100 ma the emplacement of the bridget batholith the major lithologic component of the northern wind river range the analysed monazite grains appear to preserve ca 300 ma history even within a single grain monazite inclusions in garnet that are fully armoured may provide estimates for the time of garnet growth even in high grade terranes where most chronometers are reset the age pattern preserved by the large monazite grain cannot be simply related to diffusion controlled closure instead a chronology is preserved which can be related to the petrographic setting of individual grains through in situ analysis

apatite monazite and xenotime in metamorphic rocks this chapter focuses on phosphates that are significant in metamorphic rocks a quick survey of phosphate mineral descriptions at a commercial mineral web site revealed over 500 phosphate mineral names remarkably only three are common in metamorphic rocks apatite monazite and xenotime and this chapter is restricted to discussion of these minerals apatite monazite and to a lesser extent xenotime have enjoyed intensive study during the previous half century following world war ii considerable study was made of minerals that contain fissionable materials and the sometimes large concentrations of u and th in monazite culminated in a number of seminal papers on the occurrence of that mineral e g overstreet 1967 during the 1970s and early 1980s the study of apatite and monazite turned towards their role as a sink for rees and other trace elements in rocks e g watson 1980 watson and capobianco 1981 throughout this period monazite and to some extent xenotime enjoyed attention as a geochronometer e g parrish 1990 and through today this attention has continued to grow accessory minerals such as monazite xenotime and apatite have come to the forefront of research in metamorphic petrology in recent years for two reasons first it has recently been recognized that trace elements in metamorphic rocks and especially trace element zoning in garnet and other major phases contain considerable detailed information about the reaction history a rock has experienced coupled with the fact that diffusion of many trace elements in metamorphic minerals is in general considerably slower than diffusion of major elements in those same minerals the possibility has recently emerged of recovering details of metamorphic petrogenesis that were previously unattainable inasmuch as accessory minerals play a dominant role in the mass budget of many trace elements attention has naturally turned to their paragenesis it has also recently been discovered that

u pb systematics of monazite and xenotime case studies from the paleoproterozoic of the grand canyon arizona monazite is accepted widely as an important u pb geochronometer in metamorphic terranes because it potentially preserves prograde crystallization ages however recent studies have shown that the u pb isotopic system in monazite can be influenced by a variety of processes that partially obscure the early growth history in this paper we attempt to interpret complex monazite and xenotime u pb data from three paleoproterozoic granite dikes exposed in the grand canyon single crystal monazite analyses from an unfoliated granite dike spread out along concordia from the crystallization age of the dike defined by u pb zircon data to be 1685 1 ma to 1659 2 ma a span of 26 million years back scattered electron bse imaging reveals that magmatic domains within most crystals from this sample are truncated by secondary domains associated with prominent embayments at the grain margin fragments of a single crystal yield contrasting concordant dates and fragments from the edges and tips of crystals yield the youngest dates based on these observations we suggest that the secondary domains formed at least 26 million years after the crystal formed monazite and xenotime dates from the second sample a sheared dike that cross cuts the previous dike spread out along concordia over 16 million years and range up to 2 4 normally discordant again bse imaging reveals secondary domains that truncate both magmatic zoning and xenocrystic cores fragments sliced from specific domains of a previously imaged monazite crystal demonstrate that the secondary domain is 13 million years younger than the core domain textures revealed in bse images suggest that the secondary domains formed by fluid mineral interaction normal discordance appears to result from both radiation damage accumulated at temperatures below 300 c and water mineral interaction monazite data from the third sample exhibit dispersion in both the 207pb 206pb dates 1677 1690 ma and discordance 1 6 to 3 1 reverse discordance in these monazites cannot be explained by incomplete dissolution or excess thorogenic 206pb sliced fragments from several crystals reveal dramatic intragrain u pb disequilibrium that does not correlate with either th or u concentration or position within the crystal we suggest that reverse discordance resulted from mechanisms that involve exchange or fractionation of elemental u or elemental pb and that neither the u pb dates nor the 207pb 206pb dates are reliable indicators of the rock s crystallization age given the large number of processes proposed in the recent literature to explain monazite u pb systematics from rocks of all ages our results can be viewed as another cautionary note for single crystal and multi crystal monazite geochronometry however we suggest that because individual crystals can preserve a temporal record of primary and secondary monazite growth micro sampling of individual monazite crystals may provide precise absolute ages on a variety of processes that operate during the prograde peak and or retrograde history of metamorphic terranes

magmatic to hydrothermal crystallization in the w sn mineralized mole granite nsw australia part i crystallization of zircon and ree phosphates over three million years a geochemical and u pb geochronological study abstract zircon monazite and xenotime crystallized over a temperature interval of several hundred degrees at the magmatic to hydrothermal transition of the sn and w mineralized mole granite magmatic zircon and monazite thought to have crystallized from hydrous silicate melt were dated by conventional u pb techniques at an age of 247 6 0 4 and 247 7 0 5 ma respectively xenotime occurring in hydrothermal quartz is found to be significantly younger at 246 2 0 5 ma and is interpreted to represent hydrothermal growth from associated fluid inclusions it is concluded that it precipitated from a hydrothermal brine 600 c which is below the accepted closure temperature for u pb in this mineral these data are compatible with a two stage crystallization process precipitation of zircon and monazite as magmatic liquidus phases in deep crustal magma followed by complete crystallization and intimately associated sn w mineralization after intrusion of the shallow sill like body of the mole granite later hydrothermal formation of monazite in a biotite fluorite topaz reaction rim around a mineralized vein was dated at 244 4 1 4 ma which distinctly postdates the mole granite and is possibly related to a younger hidden intrusion and its hydrothermal fluid system obtaining precise age data for magmatic and hydrothermal minerals of the mole granite is hampered by uncertainties introduced by different corrections required for multiple highly radiogenic minerals crystallising from evolved hydrous granites including 230 th disequilibrium due to th u fractionation during monazite and possibly xenotime crystallization variable th u ratios of the fluids from which xenotime was precipitating elevated contents of common lead and post crystallization lead loss in zircon enhanced by the fluid saturated environment the data imply that monazite can also survive as a liquidus phase in protracted magmatic systems over periods of 10 6 years the outlined model is in agreement with prominent chemical core rim variation of the zircon