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In this study, we explored the impacts of radiation damage and chemical composition on the etching time of monazite fission-track (MFT). Despite the potential of MFT as an ultra-low-temperature thermochronology, the comprehensive effects of radiation damage and non-formula elements, especially on the etching rate of MFT, remain unexplored, and established analytical procedures are lacking. We quantified the degree of radiation damage (ΔFHWM) of Cretaceous to Quaternary monazites distributed in the Japan arc through Raman spectroscopy and chemical composition analyses. Subsequently, MFT etching was performed to examine the correlation between these parameters and the etching time. Estimation of the degree of radiation damage showed an increase in radiation damage corresponding to the cooling age of each geological unit. For example, Monazites from Quaternary geological units, the Toya ignimbrite (ca. 0.1 Ma) and the Kurobegawa granodiorite (ca. 0.8 Ma), have ΔFHWM of 0.48 and 0.70 cm-1, respectively. In contrast, the Muro ignimbrite (ca. 15 Ma) has a ΔFHWM of 4.11 cm⁻¹, while Cretaceous granitoids, including the Kibe granite and the Sagawa granite, yielded 7.42 and 6.40 cm⁻¹, respectively. MFT etching of these samples according to the existing recipe (6M HCl at 90 °C for 60–90 minutes) was completed at 1200, 860, 210, 120, and 90 minutes for Toya ignimbrite, Kurobegawa granodiorite, Muro ignimbrite, Sagawa granite, and Kibe granite respectively. These outcomes highlight an inverse relationship between MFT etching time and the degree of radiation damage in monazite, while the correlation between MFT etching time and chemical composition was unclear. The results affirm earlier considerations that the etching rate of MFT is strongly influenced by radiation damage. Conversely, young samples with lower levels of radiation damage exhibit higher chemical resistance, suggesting that existing etching recipes may not adequately etch MFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavior of zircon at the schist/migmatite transition is investigated. Syn-metamorphic overgrowth is rare in zircon in schists, whereas zircon in migmatites has rims with low Th/U that give 90.3 ± 2.2 Ma U-Pb concordia age. Between inherited core and the metamorphic rim, a thin, dark-CL annulus containing melt inclusion is commonly developed, suggesting that it formed contemporaneous with the rim in the presence of melt. In diatexites, the annulus is further truncated by the brighter-CL overgrowth, suggesting the resorption and regrowth of the zircon after near-peak metamorphism. Part of the zircon rim crystallized during the solidification of the melt in migmatites. Preservation of angular-shaped inherited core of 5-10 µm in zircon included in garnet suggests that zircon of this size did not experience resorption but developed overgrowths during near-peak metamorphism. The Ostwald ripening process consuming zircon less than 5-10 µm is required to form new overgrowths. Curved crystal size distribution pattern for fine-grained zircons in a diatexite sample may indicate the contribution of this process. Zircon less than 20 µm is confirmed to be an important sink of Zr in metatexites, and ca. 35-µm zircon without detrital core are common in diatexites, supporting new nucleation of zircon in migmatites. In the Ryoke metamorphic belt at the Aoyama area, monazite from migmatites records the prograde growth age of 96.5 ± 1.9 Ma. Using the difference of growth timing of monazite and zircon, the duration of metamorphism higher than the amphibolite facies grade is estimated to be ca. 6 Myr. Keywords Zircon * Migmatite * Melt inclusion * Glass * Crystal size distribution * Duration of metamorphism, Introduction Behavior of zircon during the metamorphism is a matter of great interest because zircon could grow during many stages of metamorphism and the U-Pb spot ages of this mineral [...]

We combine zircon sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U-Pb spot dating and mica [sup.40][Ar-.sup.39]Ar plateau ages with field-geological and geochemical constraints from the Malashan area of Southern Tibet to show that the deformed granite core of the North Himalayan metamorphic domes in this area is not Indian basement, but was intruded and deformed during the Himalayan orogeny. Microstructural observations reveal that a transition from top-to-the-south thrust-related to top-to-the-north extension-related deformation occurred during granite intrusion and related metamorphism. This suggests that intrusion triggered the onset of extensional tectonics in the Tibetan middle to upper crust. Expected positive feedback mechanisms between decompression melting leading to more intrusion and more extensional deformation suggest that this mechanism may have been important on a regional scale. Keywords: north Himalayan gneiss domes, granite, age dating, extensional tectonics.

New zircon U-Pb and mica [40.sup]Ar/[sup.39]Ar dating combined with structural studies in the Longmenshan orogen confirm that most of the upper crustal deformation in the eastern margin of Tibet is Mesozoic. However, at lower structural levels, apatite U-Pb and monazite electron microprobe dating reveals a previously unknown domain of Cenozoic (ca. 65 Ma) Barrovian-type metamorphism and deformation. This discovery shows that the crust in the eastern margin of Tibet was already a substantial thickness around the time of the India-Asia collision. Associated deformation has a N-S-oriented stretching lineation, implying that deformation was not driven by topographic gradients in the Tibetan Plateau. The observed moderate amounts of distributed postmetamorphic E-W shortening can probably explain the present thickness of the continental crust in the area. These results do not support models of crustal thickening caused by solid-state lateral flow of midcrustal metamorphic rocks. Keywords: Tibetan Plateau, radiometric dating, metamorphism, Cenozoic tectonics.

We report contrasting pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) paths of migmatites developed in the highest‐grade metamorphic zone (Grt–Crd zone) and the contact metamorphic zone (Crd–Kfs zone) of the Mikawa area, Ryoke belt, southwest Japan to discuss the complex P–T–D–t evolution of the middle crust that experienced pulsed granitoid intrusions. In the Grt–Crd zone, sillimanite‐grade high‐T metamorphic condition prevailed from ca. 97 to 87 Ma, followed by cooling to ~500 °C, ~4 kbar. The intrusion of gneissose granitoids below the Grt–Crd zone isobarically reheated the Grt–Crd zone rocks again to the sillimanite‐grade high‐T condition at ca. 84 Ma. This was followed by ca. 71–70 Ma contact metamorphism. Ductile deformation that formed and folded the foliation of migmatites started before ca. 89 Ma and continued at least until ca. 84 Ma in the Grt–Crd zone. On the other hand, ca. 74 Ma age of the Crd–Kfs zone migmatite developed around the Inagawa Granodiorite in addition to ca. 70 Ma age of a syn‐tectonic pegmatite vein revealed that the intrusion of "75–69 Ma granitoids" caused partial melting and locally triggered low‐strain ductile deformation in their contact aureoles. Comparison with other areas of the Ryoke belt suggests that plutono‐metamorphic evolution of the Mikawa and Aoyama areas are similar with each other in that ca. 80 Ma reheating events (i.e., contact metamorphism) are observed, while absence of separate reheating event postdating peak metamorphism in the Yanai area is a rather uncommon feature in the Ryoke belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]