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Fission-Track Analysis: Field Collection, Sample Preparation and Data Acquisition

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Fission-Track Thermochronology and its Application to Geology

Abstract

Fission-track (FT) analysis for geological applications involves a range of practical considerations, which are reviewed here. These include field sampling, the separation of the most commonly used minerals (apatite, zircon and titanite), the preparation of these minerals for analysis (including for double or triple-dating of the same grains) and measurement of the essential parameters required. Two main analytical strategies are described, the External Detector Method (EDM) and Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Although the initial steps ranging from sample selection to mineral separation are common to both approaches, the next practical steps vary with the specific dating strategy adopted. The workflow outlined here for sample preparation and aspects of data acquisition follows a widely used standard sequence of steps, but some of the specific details described are those developed over many years by the Melbourne Thermochronology Group. While these protocols may be readily applicable or adaptable, it is recognised that many laboratories may have developed their own particular recipes for different aspects of these methods.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to numerous past and present researchers and graduate students in the Thermochronology Group at the University of Melbourne for their contributions towards establishing some of the methodologies described in this work. The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy AuScope programme supports the University of Melbourne thermochronology facility. Martin Danišík and Paul O’Sullivan provided thoughtful and constructive reviews, which helped to improve the clarity of this work.

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  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Barry Kohn, Ling Chung & Andrew Gleadow

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  1. Barry Kohn
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Correspondence to Barry Kohn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Marco G. Malusà

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA

    Paul G. Fitzgerald

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Kohn, B., Chung, L., Gleadow, A. (2019). Fission-Track Analysis: Field Collection, Sample Preparation and Data Acquisition. In: Malusà, M., Fitzgerald, P. (eds) Fission-Track Thermochronology and its Application to Geology. Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89421-8_2

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