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The effect of initial230Th disequilibrium on young UPb ages: the Makalu case, Himalaya

1984; Elsevier BV; Volume: 67; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0012-821x(84)90114-6

1385-013X

Urs Schärer,

Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping

Comparative UPb dating of zircon, xenotime and monazite from two different samples of the Himalayan “Makalu” granite shows the two U decay series to be in disequilibrium, particularly in monazite. This disequilibrium is due to excess or deficit amounts of radiogenic206Pb which originate from an excess or deficit of230Th, respectively, occurring initially in the mineral. Such an initial disequilibrium is caused by UTh fractionation between the crystallising mineral and the magma. Therefore, the UPb ages of Th-rich minerals such as monazite (and allanite) have to be corrected for excess206Pb due to excess230Th, whereas Th-poor minerals such as zircon and xenotime require a correction for a deficit of206Pb due to deficiency of230Th. The extent of this correction depends on the degree of ThU fractionation and on the age of the rock. For the two monazite populations analysed here, these excess amounts of206Pb were, with reference to the amount of radiogenic206Pb, 8–10% and 15–20% respectively, and less than 1% for zircon and xenotime. The varying degrees of Th enrichment relative to U in monazite show that the ThU partition coefficients for this mineral are not constant within a single granite. Furthermore, for monazite there is evidence for excess amounts of radiogenic207Pb originating from the decay of initial excess231Pa, also enriched during crystal growth. The very low Th/U ratios of 0.196 and 0.167, determined for thetwo whole rocks from which the minerals have been extracted, substantiate the view that granite formation is a fundamental mechanism for ThU fractionation in continental crust. The different ages of 21.9 ± 0.2m.y. and24.0 ± 0.4m.y., obtained by averaging the corrected238U206Pb ages of the monazites, suggest that the apparently homogeneous Makalu granite was generated over a period of at least 2 m.y.