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Laser depth profiling of laboratory-induced helium diffusion profiles in natural zircon confirms that helium diffusivity is crystallographically controlled and significantly anisotropic. Experiments on Mud Tank zircon with low degrees of alpha radiation damage (5.6 × 1016 to 1.3 × 1017 α/g) indicate that c ‖ diffusion is ∼400 to 700 times faster than a ‖ diffusion over the experimental temperature range investigated (400–600 °C). This magnitude of diffusive anisotropy implies that zircon crystals with different crystal morphologies record different helium closure temperatures. Zircon diffusion models commonly used in thermal-kinematic modeling programs do not properly account for diffusive anisotropy, and consequently, are likely to over- or underestimate helium closure temperatures in low-damage zircon. Additional experiments on pieces of a large Sri Lankan zircon crystal with strong radiation damage zoning demonstrate that both c ‖ and a ‖ diffusivity – as well as the magnitude of diffusive anisotropy – decrease with increasing radiation damage over an alpha dose range of ∼4.2 × 1017 to 8.5 × 1017 α/g. Decreases in diffusivity appear to reflect changes in the diffusion coefficient D0 and not the activation energy for diffusion. While we did not design our experiments to explore the effect of trace element geochemistry on helium diffusion in zircon in detail, our results suggest that such an effect may be significant.

The Greater Caucasus (GC) Mountains within the central Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, are an archetypal example of a young collisional orogen. However, the mechanisms driving rock uplift and formin...

Apatite – Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F,Cl) – is a common accessory mineral in many terrestrial rocks and has a low (~75˚C) closure temperature for He retention[1]. As such the (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronometer has ...

The Ultraviolet Laser Ablation Microprobe (UVLAMP) method of releasing helium from samples is an excellent, but under-utilized, tool in the diverse toolkit of gas extraction approaches available to...

Since initially developing laser ablation (U-Th)/He procedures for high-spatial-resolution dating of monazite more than a decade ago, our research group has refined the technique to the point that ...

The Greater Caucasus (GC) Mountains within the central Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, are an archetypal example of a young collisional orogen. However, the mechanisms driving rock uplift in the ran...

Paired U/Pb and (U-Th-Sm)/He dating of individual detrital apatite crystals has potential as a valuable tool for constraining the high- and low-temperature thermal evolution of sediment source terrains. Here we present the results of exploratory applications of the laser ablation double-dating (LADD) method – originally developed for detrital zircon research – to the widely available Durango fluorapatite standard in order to evaluate the practicality of the method. Sixty-two laser-ablation analyses of a single large crystal of Durango fluorapatite yielded an inverse-variance weighted mean 206Pb/238U date of 31.46 ± 0.48 Ma and an inverse-variance weighted mean (U-Th-Sm)/He date of 31.75 ± 0.60 Ma, both of which are in good agreement with previously published conventional dates. While these results are encouraging, several factors suggest that LADD may be less useful for detrital apatites than for detrital zircons given widely available analytical instrumentation. These principally reflect the propensity for apatites to have comparatively lower U + Th concentrations, and thus lower radiogenic He and Pb concentrations, as well as high concentrations of common Pb. These factors contribute to substantially higher analytical imprecision for most LADD U/Pb dates for apatite, occasionally too high for the dates to be geologically useful. Reasonably precise laser ablation (U-Th-Sm)/He dating of detrital apatites requires relatively large crystal sizes (≥ 100 μm in the shortest dimension), with the minimum useful size increasing with decreasing (U-Th-Sm)/He apparent age. In contrast to the geological interpretation of LADD datasets for detrital zircons, the interpretation of datasets for detrital apatites is less straightforward. In particular, researchers should consider carefully the possibility that (U-Th-Sm)/He apparent age distributions are biased by the need to analyze only larger apatites.

The Chinese Tianshan is located in the south of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and formed during final consumption of the Paleo-Asian Ocean in the late Palaeozoic. In order to further elucidate the tectonic evolution of the Chinese Tianshan, we have established the temperature-time history of granitic rocks from the Chinese Tianshan through a multi-chronological approach that includes U/Pb (zircon), 40Ar/39Ar (biotite and K-feldspar), and (U-Th)/He (zircon and apatite) dating. Our data show that the central Tianshan experienced accelerated cooling during the late Carboniferous- to early Permian. Multiple sequences of complex multiple accretionary, subduction and collisional events could have induced the cooling in the Tianshan Orogenic Belt. The new 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He data, in combination with thermal history modeling results, reveal that several tectonic reactivation and exhumation episodes affected the Chinese central Tianshan during middle Triassic (245–210 Ma), early Cretaceous (140–100 Ma), late Oligocene-early Miocene (35–20 Ma) and late Miocene (12–9 Ma). The middle Triassic cooling dates was only found in the central Tianshan. Strong uplift and deformation in the Chinese Tianshan has been limited and localized. It have been concentrated in around major fault zone and the foreland thrust belt since the early Cretaceous. The middle Triassic and early Cretaceous exhumation is interpreted as distal effects of the Cimmerian collisions (i.e. the Qiangtang and Kunlun-Qaidam collision and Lhasa-Qiangtang collision) at the southern Eurasian margin. The Cenozoic reactivation and exhumation is interpreted as a far field response to the India-Eurasia collision and represents the beginning of modern mountain building and denudation in the Chinese Tianshan.

In this study, we empirically evaluate the impact of radiation damage on zircon (U-Th)/He closure temperatures for a suite of zircon crystals from the slowly cooled McClure Mountain syenite of south-central Colorado, USA. We present new zircon, titanite, and apatite conventional (U-Th)/He dates, zircon laser ablation (U-Th)/He and U-Pb dates, and zircon Raman spectra for crystals from the syenite. Titanite and apatite (U-Th)/He dates range from 447 to 523 Ma and 88.0 to 138.9 Ma, respectively, and display no clear correlation between (U-Th)/He date and effective uranium concentration. Conventional zircon (U-Th)/He dates range from 230.3 to 474 Ma, while laser ablation zircon (U-Th)/He dates show even greater dispersion, ranging from 5.31 to 520 Ma. Dates from both zircon (U-Th)/He datasets decrease with increasing alpha dose, indicating that most of the dispersion can be attributed to radiation damage. Alpha dose values for the dated zircon crystals range from effectively zero to 2.15 × 1019 α /g, spanning the complete damage spectrum. We use an independently constrained thermal model to empirically assign a closure temperature to each dated zircon grain. If we assume that this thermal model is robust, the zircon radiation damage accumulation and annealing model of Guenthner et al. (2013) does not accurately predict closure temperatures for many of the analyzed zircon crystals. Raman maps of the zircons dated by laser ablation document complex radiation damage zoning, sometimes revealing crystalline zones in grains with alpha dose values suggestive of amorphous material. Such zoning likely resulted in heterogeneous intra-crystalline helium diffusion and may help explain some of the discrepancies between our empirical findings and the Guenthner et al. (2013) model predictions. Because U-Th zoning is a common feature in zircon, radiation damage zoning is likely to be a concern for most ancient, slowly cooled zircon (U-Th)/He datasets. Whenever possible, multiple mineral-isotopic systems should be employed to add additional, independent constraints to a sample’s thermal history.

40Ar/39Ar incremental heating experiments on whole‐rock lunar samples commonly provide evidence of varying degrees of radiogenic 40Ar (40Ar*) loss. However, these experiments provide limited information about whether or not 40Ar* is preferentially lost from specific glasses, minerals, or polyphase domains. Ultraviolet laser ablation microprobe (UVLAMP) 40Ar/39Ar dating and electron probe microanalysis of mineral clasts and polyphase melt assemblages in Apollo 17 poikilitic impact melt rock 77135 show evidence of geochemical controls on 40Ar/39Ar dates. Potassium‐rich glass and K‐feldspar in the mesostasis are the dominant sources for Ar released during low‐temperature steps of published 40Ar/39Ar release spectra for this rock, while pyroxene oikocrysts with enclosed plagioclase chadacrysts contribute Ar predominantly to intermediate‐ to high‐temperature steps. Additionally, UVLAMP analysis of a mm‐scale plagioclase clast demonstrates the potential to use stranded 40Ar* diffusive loss profiles to constrain the thermal evolution of lunar impact melt deposits and indicates that the melt component of 77135 cooled quickly. While some submillimeter clasts of plagioclase are distinctly older than the melt, other small clasts yield dates younger than the oldest melt components in 77135, plausibly due to subgrain fast diffusion pathways and/or 40Ar* loss during brief episodes of reheating at high temperatures. Our data suggest that integrated petrologic and microanalytical geochronologic studies are necessary complements to bulk sample geochronologic studies in order to fully evaluate competing models for the impactor flux during the first billion years of the Moon's evolution.

Highlights • The South Tibetan detachment system played a major role in Himalayan evolution. • Near Mt Everest, the detachment system accommodated large displacements under both brittle and ductile conditions. • Rapid cooling of footwall rocks reflected tectonic denudation by brittle slip from ca. 15.6 to at least 13.0 Ma. • Thermal–kinematic modeling suggests displacement on the detachment to be at least 61 km. Abstract North-dipping, low-angle normal faults of the South Tibetan detachment system (STDS) are tectonically important features of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogenic system. The STDS is best exposed in the N–S-trending Rongbuk Valley in southern Tibet, where the primary strand of the system – the Qomolangma detachment – can be traced down dip from the summit of Everest for a distance of over 30 km. The metamorphic discontinuity across this detachment implies a large net displacement, with previous studies suggesting >200 km of slip. Here we refine those estimates through thermal–kinematic modeling of new (U–Th)/He and 40Ar/39Ar data from deformed footwall leucogranites. While previous studies focused on the early ductile history of deformation along the detachment, our data provide new insights regarding the brittle–ductile to brittle slip history. Thermal modeling results generated with the program QTQt indicate rapid, monotonic cooling from muscovite 40Ar/39Ar closure (ca. 15.4–14.4 Ma at ca. 490 °C) to zircon (U–Th)/He closure (ca. 14.3–11.0 Ma at ca. 200 °C), followed by slower cooling to apatite (U–Th)/He closure at ca. 9–8 Ma (at ca. 70 °C). Although previous work has suggested that ductile slip on the detachment lasted only until ca. 15.6 Ma, thermal–kinematic modeling of our new data suggests that rapid (ca. 3–4 km/Ma) tectonic exhumation by brittle–ductile to brittle fault slip continued to at least ca. 13.0 Ma. Much lower modeled exhumation rates (≤0.5 km/Ma) after ca. 13 Ma are interpreted to reflect erosional denudation rather than tectonic exhumation. Projection of fault-related exhumation rates backward through time suggests total slip of ca. 61 to 289 km on the Qomolangma detachment, with slightly more than a third of that slip occurring under brittle–ductile to brittle conditions.

Lesser Antilles arc lavas have trace element and radiogenic isotope characteristics indicative of a continent-derived contribution. It is debated vigorously whether this continental signature represents terrigenous sediment that has been subducted with the Atlantic plate and added to the magma sources in the mantle wedge, or portions of the subarc crust that are assimilated during magma ascent. Here we present Mo isotope data for Lesser Antilles arc lavas and sediments offboard the Lesser Antilles trench. Sequences of black shales, present in the subducting sediment piles, are highly enriched in Mo and have unusually high 98Mo/95Mo. Despite their low mass fraction in the sediment package (

New titanite (U-Th)/He (He) data on basement rocks from NE Mozambique are presented. The objective was to test the applicability of titanite He thermochronology in an orogen–passive margin setting and to better constrain the exhumation history across the Lurio Belt, a major structural discontinuity in Mozambique. Therefore, samples from existing geochronological and thermochronological studies were dated using titanite He thermochronology. Resulting titanite He data (from abraded crystals) provide average cooling ages from 178 ± 15 to 383 ± 23 Ma. The data fit well into the age pattern obtained from previous thermochronological studies in NE Mozambique, revealing differential exhumation across the Lurio Belt. The basement to the north experienced earlier cooling than that to the south, while overall youngest titanite He ages are from the Lurio Belt, indicating reactivation linked to the post-collisional extension and break-up of Gondwana. Thermal history modelling revealed two possibilities, able to account for the different cooling histories of NE Mozambique since initial Gondwana break-up in Permian times: One involves a transient sedimentary overburden that buried and (re)heated the southern basement, with subsequent basin inversion at ∼250 Ma in response to rift shoulder uplift. The second model implies delayed cooling of the southern basement, possibly due to delamination of the crustal root shortly after Gondwana formation. The formerly upwelling asthenosphere and the subsequently formed sag basin might have caused a prolonged thermal effect. Titanite He ages and thermal histories point to rift shoulder uplift of the southern part and increased thermal activity within the reactivated Lurio Belt, signifying first rifting activities as precursor of Gondwana break-up.

Excimer laser technologies enable a rapid and effective approach to simultaneous U/Pb geochronology and (U–Th)/He thermochronology of a wide range of detrital accessory minerals. Here we describe the ‘laser ablation double dating’ (LADD) method and demonstrate its viability by applying it to zircon and titanite crystals from the well-characterized Fish Canyon tuff. We found that LADD dates for Fish Canyon zircon (206Pb/238U – 28.63 ± 0.11 Ma; (U–Th)/He – 28.38 ± 0.73 Ma) are statistically indistinguishable from those obtained through established, traditional methods of single-crystal dating. The same is true for Fish Canyon titanite LADD dates: 206Pb/238U – 28.08 ± 0.90 Ma; (U–Th)/He – 27.98 ± 0.86 Ma. As anticipated, given that LADD involves the analysis of smaller amounts of material than traditional methods, it yields dates with higher analytical uncertainty. However, this does not substantially reduce the utility of the results for most applications to detrital datasets. An important characteristic of LADD is that it encourages the chemical characterization of crystals by backscattered electron, cathodoluminescence, and/or Raman mapping prior to dating. In addition, by permitting the rapid and robust dating of crystals regardless of the degree of their abrasion during sedimentary transport, the method theoretically should yield dates that are more broadly representative of those of the entire population of detrital crystals in a natural sample.

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of understanding alpha radiation damage in zircon in order to effectively interpret the thermochronologic significance of (U-Th)/He dates and to appropriately select laser ablation U/Pb reference standards. Direct measurements of alpha radiation damage in zircon are most easily done by using Raman spectral response as a proxy. Current Raman microscopes provide the opportunity to quantify not just a crystal's bulk radiation damage, but to map intracrystalline variations in radiation damage related to radionuclide zoning. Here we illustrate the procedure through a detailed study of zoned Proterozoic zircon crystals from the Adirondack Mountains of New York state. Although previous Raman studies have focused on the response of the v3(SiO4) stretching band (1008 cm−1) to radiation damage, we demonstrate that the internal v2(SiO4) bending band (439 cm−1) and the external Eg band (357 cm−1) are in some cases more useful – and in the case of the Eg band more responsive – proxies. We present curves that permit α dose estimates to be made from Eg and v2 band widths over a range of ~2 × 1017 to 1.8 × 1018 α/g. We then illustrate how these radiation damage maps can be used to visualize and interrogate intracrystalline variations in any damage-dependent material property in zircon, using helium diffusivity as an example, and discuss the implications for (U-Th)/He and U/Pb chronology of ancient, zoned zircon.

Despite decades of study, the timing, rates, and magnitude of extension in the Basin and Range are poorly quantified in some areas. This study integrates new zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He analyses (ZrnHe and ApHe) with published thermochronologic data to quantify these extensional parameters in the Southern Snake Range (SSR) of east-central Nevada. The new ZrnHe dates range from 40.7 ± 4.9 Ma in the western SSR to 21.0 ± 3.3 Ma near the present-day trace of the Southern Snake Range Decollement (SSRD), and the ApHe dates range from 15.1 ± 2.4 Ma in the central SSR to 13.6 ± 0.7 Ma closest to the SSRD trace. These new and previously published low-temperature thermochronologic cooling ages were inverted for the extensional history of the SSR using a Bayesian Monte Carlo method incorporating Pecube. The posterior extensional histories indicate three significant pulses of extension occurred during the Paleogene and Neogene: (1) ~50–45 to ~38 Ma (Eocene), (2) ~33–30 to ~23 Ma (Oligocene), and (3) ~23–20 to ~10–8 Ma (Miocene). Modeled rates of extension were low at ≤ 0.5 mm a−1; however, more rapid rates possibly occurred during the Eocene and the Miocene based on posterior histories. Net cumulative extension from posterior histories is 19.8 to 34.9 km, with a mean of 29.7 km. About 10–18 km of extension occurred during the Eocene and Oligocene. Model results indicate no relationship between extension and magmatism in the SSR. Our new model results and interpretations also indicate extensional collapse of the Nevadaplano initiated prior to ~17 Ma.

A precise age for the collision of the Kohistan-Ladakh block with Eurasia along the Shyok suture zone (SSZ) is one key to understanding the accretionary history of Tibet and the tectonics of Eurasia during the India-Eurasia collision. Knowing the age of the SSZ also allows the suture to be used as a piercing line for calculating total offset along the Karakoram Fault, which effectively represents the SE border of the Tibetan Plateau and has played a major role in plateau evolution. We present a combined structural, geochemical, and geochronologic study of the SSZ as it is exposed in the Nubra region of India to test two competing hypotheses: that the SSZ is of Late Cretaceous or, alternatively, of Eocene age. Coarse-continental strata of the Saltoro Molasse, mapped in this area, contain detrital zircon populations suggestive of derivation from Eurasia despite the fact that the molasse itself is deposited unconformably onto Kohistan-Ladakh rocks, indicating that the molasse is postcollisional. The youngest population of detrital zircons in these rocks (approximately 92 Ma) and a U/Pb zircon date for a dike that cuts basal molasse outcrops (approximately 85 Ma) imply that deposition of the succession began in the Late Cretaceous. This establishes a minimum age for the SSZ and rules out the possibility of an Eocene collision between Kohistan-Ladakh and Eurasia. Our results support correlation of the SSZ with the Bangong suture zone in Tibet, which implies a total offset across the Karakoram Fault of approximately 130–190 km.

North-south-directed extension on the South Tibetan Fault System (STFS) played an important role in Himalayan tectonics of the Miocene Period, and it is generally assumed that orogen-perpendicular extension ceased in this orogenic system before the Pliocene. However, previous work in the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri Himalaya of central Nepal revealed evidence for local Pleistocene reactivation of the basal STFS structure in this area (the Annapurna Detachment). New structural mapping and (U-Th)/He apatite and zircon thermochronology in this region further document the significance of Pleistocene N-S extension in this sector of the Himalaya. Patterns of (U-Th)/He accessory-mineral ages are not disrupted across the reactivated segment of the STFS basal detachment, indicating that Pleistocene offset was limited. In contrast, the trace of a N-dipping, low-angle detachment in the hanging wall of the reactivated Annapurna Detachment—formerly linked to the STFS, but here named the Dhaulagiri Detachment—coinc...

The record of Tertiary landscape evolution preserved in Arizona’s transition zone presents an independent opportunity to constrain the timing of Colorado Plateau uplift and incision. We study this record of landscape evolution by mapping Tertiary sediments, volcanic deposits, and the erosional unconformity at their base, 40Ar/39Ar dating of basaltic lava flows in key locations, and constructing geological cross sections along canyons to restore the paleorelief on the Tertiary erosional unconformity to test whether canyon incision requires young (, Geosphere, 14 (4), ISSN:1553-040X

Forty titanite grain fragments from 9 central uplift samples of metamorphosed anorthosite from the Manicouagan impact structure were dated by the (U–Th)/He technique. A (U–Th)/He central age of 207.1 ± 6.4 Ma (2 standard error (SE), n = 40) has been determined. With 4 outlier ages removed the central age is refined to 208.9 ± 5.1 Ma (2 SE). Both of these ages are within error of the previously determined U–Pb zircon age of 214 ± 1 Ma (2 σ ) derived from the impact melt. Manicouagan's central uplift formed due to rapid elevation from ~ 7–10 km depth as part of the modification stage of the impact process, which has facilitated the dating of its emplacement due to resulting rapid exhumation and cooling and closure of the (U–Th)/He system in titanite. Correlation with the previous U–Pb zircon 214 ± 1 Ma impact melt crystallization age indicates that the (U–Th)/He titanite dating technique offers a new approach to dating complex impact structures in the absence of viable melt sheets, or other melt products. The youngest ca. 195 Ma (U–Th)/He dates preserved in some titanite fragments are synchronous with Early Jurassic, rift-induced lithospheric thinning and associated igneous activity that defines the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). The (U–Th)/He titanite data from Manicouagan indicate that the influence of this regional event may extend west of the previously proposed limit of CAMP activity.

Precise knowledge of the timing of Indo-Eurasian collision is prerequisite for understanding the subsequent evolution of the HimalayanTibetan orogenic system, yet the topic remains controversial despite decades of research. We present new data for the Upper Oligocene Basgo Formation of the Indus Basin of NW India that specifi cally address the proposal that collision initiated no earlier than the EoceneOligocene boundary. The Basgo Formation has been cited as the base of the Indus Group because of its previously assumed Maastrichtian age. This age has been revised to Upper Oligocene, but the stratigraphic location has not been re-evaluated. As such, it has been used as evidence of Oligocene-aged collision between India and Eurasia. Based on age constraints in the remainder of the Indus Group, we revise the stratigraphy and place it instead toward the top of the succession. We present evidence that the zircons in the Basgo sandstones originated from the Indian passive margin. Because conglomerate clasts are known to come from the Transhimalayan batholith to the north, our data support mixed provenance and require a minimum late Oligocene age for India-Eurasia collision in the NW Indian Himalaya. (U-Th)/He cooling dates for detrital zircons from the Basgo Formation range from 52.6 to 28.25 Ma, however, implying that their most probable source, the Indian passive margin, was emergent and eroding prior to Oligocene time due to collision. These data alone do not speak to whether the Basgo Formation records pre-Oligocene collision of India and Eurasia or India and the Transhimalayan Ladakh batholith, but as of the date of this publication, there is no evidence for Oligocene collision anywhere else in the Ladakh region. Thus, we interpret our data to demonstrate terminal collision between India and Eurasia prior to Oligocene time.

[1] Detrital mineral thermochronology of modern sediments is a valuable tool for interrogating landscape evolution. Detrital zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology is of particular interest because zircons are durable and withstand transport in glacial and fluvial systems far better than, for example, apatite. However, because of the time-intensive nature of conventional zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology, most previous studies of this kind have relied on data for a few tens of grains, even though conventional wisdom holds that a substantially larger number is necessary for a robust characterization of the population of cooling ages in a sample. Here, we introduce a microanalytical approach to detrital zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology that addresses many factors that can complicate the interpretation of conventional zircon (U-Th)/He data, particularly with respect to alpha ejection and injection and U + Th zoning. In addition, this technique permits the effective dating of naturally abraded and broken grains, and, therefore, lessens the potential for sampling bias. We apply both conventional and laser microprobe techniques to a detrital sample from the Ladakh Range in the northwestern Indian Himalaya, showing that the two yield very similar principal modes of apparent ages. However, the laser microprobe data yield a broader spectrum of ages than that of the conventional data set, which we interpret to be caused by bias related to the selection requirements for zircons used for conventional dating. This method thus provides a time-efficient route to obtaining a higher-resolution distribution of dates from a single sample, which will, in turn, yield higher-fidelity constraints regarding catchment-wide erosion rates for surface process studies.

[1] The southern Tibetan Plateau margin between ~ 83°E and 86.5°E is defined by an abrupt change from the low-relief Tibetan Plateau to the rugged topography and deep gorges of the Himalaya. This physiographic transition lies well to the north of active thrusting, and thus, the mechanism responsible for the distinct topographic break remains the focus of much debate. While numerous studies have utilized thermochronology to examine the exhumation history of the Himalaya, few have done so with respect to variations across the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau transition. In this work, we examine the nature of the transition where it is accessible and well-defined in the Nyalam valley of south-central Tibet. We employ several new and previously published thermochronologic datasets (with a closure temperature range of ~ 70°C–300°C) in conjunction with river incision patterns inferred by the longitudinal profile of the Bhote Kosi River. The results reveal a sharp change in cooling rate at ~ 3.5 Ma at a location corresponding to a pronounced river knickpoint representing a sharp increase in river gradient and presumably incision rate (a proxy for rock uplift). Margin retreat models for the physiographic transition are inconsistent with the cooling pattern revealed by low-temperature thermochronologic data. Models invoking passive uplift of the upper crust over a midcrustal ramp and associated duplex to account for the physiographic transition do not explain the observed break in cooling rate there, although they may explain a suggesting in the thermochronologic data of progressively increasing exhumation rates south of the transition. The simplest model consistent with all observations is that passive uplift is augmented by contemporaneous differential uplift across a young (Pliocene-Quaternary) normal fault at the physiographic transition. Drawing on observations elsewhere, we hypothesize that similar structural relationships may be characteristic of the Tibetan Plateau-Himalaya transition from ~83°E – 86.5°E.

Single crystal (U-Th)/He dating was applied to 24 apatite and 23 zircon grains from the Wetumpka impact structure, Alabama, USA. This small approximately 5–7.6 km impact crater was formed in a shallow marine environment, with no known preserved impact melt, thus offering a challenge to common geochronological techniques. A mean (U-Th)/He apatite and zircon age of 84.4 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ) was obtained, which is within error of the previously estimated Late Cretaceous impact age of approximately 83.5 Ma. In addition, helium diffusion modeling of apatite and zircon grains during fireball/contact, shock metamorphism, and hydrothermal events was undertaken, to show the influence of these individual thermal processes on resetting (U-Th)/He ages in the Wetumpka samples. This study has shown that the (U-Th)/He geochronological technique has real potential for dating impact structures, especially smaller and eroded impact structures that lack impact melt lithologies.

Ultraviolet lasers coupled with sensitive mass spectrometers provide a useful way to measure laboratory-induced noble gas diffusion profiles in minerals, thus enabling the calculation of diffusion parameters. We illustrate this laser ablation depth profiling (LADP) technique for a previously well-studied mineral-isotopic system: ^4He in Durango fluorapatite. LADP studies were conducted on oriented, polished slabs from a single crystal that were heated under vacuum to a variety of temperatures between 300 and 450°C for variable times. The resolved ^4He profiles exhibited error-function loss as predicted by previous bulk ^4He diffusion studies. All of the slabs, regardless of crystallographic orientation, yielded modeled diffusivities that are statistically co-linear on an Arrhenius diagram, suggesting no diffusional anisotropy of ^4He in this material. The data indicate an activation energy of 142.2 ± 5.0 (2σ) kJ/mol and diffusivity at infinite temperature – reported as ln(D_0) – of −4.71 ± 0.94 (2σ) m^2/s. These values imply a bulk closure temperature for ^4He in Durango fluorapatite of 74°C for a 50 μm radius grain, infinite cylinder geometry, and a cooling rate of 10°C/Myr.

Models of the exhumation histories of mountain ranges are often quantified through thermal-kinematic modeling of thermochronologic datasets. The Himalaya correspond with one of the world’s starkest rain shadows, with data from NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) suggesting that regions on the southern flank of the Himalaya may receive up to four meters of rainfall per year, while areas of southern Tibet north of the range crest obtain only about half a meter of rainfall annually. While the precise position of this transition is only generally defined by the spatial resolution of the TRMM data to within a few kilometers, the data clearly indicate that the transition occurs south of the range crest. New multichronometer datasets (40Ar/39Ar muscovite and (U-Th)/He zircon and apatite) for bedrock samples collected along a transect from north of Mount Everest, on the Tibetan Plateau, to the southern flank of the Himalaya in the Khumbu region of Nepal, show a dramatic break in cooling histories at a position well south of the range crest and within spatial uncertainty of the TRMM-derived position of the rainfall transition. 1D inverse thermal-kinematic and erosion modeling of the thermochronometer data for the range of possible transient denudation histories indicates that the thermochronometric transition marks a shift between two regions with dramatically different exhumation histories within the late Miocene-Pliocene, with high, presumably erosional exhumation of post-Miocene age constrained to the region of high modern precipitation related to the South Asian summer monsoon. These results support a model in which the current precipitation patterns across the rain shadow, which clearly correlate with exhumation rate patterns today, had developed by at least the late Miocene. Our results do not support the model of Carrapa et al. (2016, Geology), who used their thermochronologic data for samples collected north of Mount Everest, together with pre-existing datasets from farther south to argue for a continuous northward migration of the orographic precipitation front since the Miocene from far south of Everest to its modern position at the range crest.

Chemical differences between mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) and ocean island basalts (OIBs) provide critical evidence that the Earth's mantle is compositionally heterogeneous. MORBs generally exhibit a relatively low and narrow range of 3He/4He ratios on a global scale, whereas OIBs display larger variability in both time and space. The primordial origin of 3He in OIBs has motivated hypotheses that high 3He/4He ratios are the product of mantle plumes sampling chemically distinct material, but do not account for lower MORB-like 3He/4He ratios in OIBs, nor their observed spatial and temporal variability. Here we perform thermochemical convection calculations which show the variable 3He/4He signature of OIBs can be reproduced by deep isolated mantle reservoirs of primordial material that are viscously entrained by thermal plumes. Entrainment is highly time-dependent, producing a wide range of 3He/4He ratios similar to that observed in OIBs worldwide and indicate MORB-like 3He/4He ratios in OIBs cannot be used to preclude deep mantle-sourced hotspots., It is unclear why some ocean island basalts at ‘hotspots' have low 3He/4He ratios similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts. Here, the authors perform convection calculations and show that these isotopic ratios can be reproduced by the episodic entrainment of deep isolated mantle reservoirs into thermal plumes.

A comprehensive geochemical survey of springs outside the northwest margin of the Yellowstone caldera was undertaken in 2003 and 2004. This survey was designed to detect: (1) active leakage from a huge reservoir of CO2 gas recently postulated to extend from beneath the caldera into this area; and (2) lingering evidence for subsurface flow of magmatic fluids into this area during the 1985 seismic swarm and concomitant caldera subsidence. Spring temperatures are low (

Fluids from springs, fumaroles, and wells throughout Dixie Valley, NV were analyzed for noble gas abundances and isotopic compositions. The helium isotopic compositions of fluids produced from the Dixie Valley geothermal field range from 0.70 to 0.76 Ra, are among the highest values in the valley, and indicate that ∼7.5% of the total helium is derived from the mantle. A lack of recent volcanics or other potential sources requires flow of mantle-derived helium up along the valley bounding Stillwater Range Front Fault, from which the geothermal fluids are produced. Using a one-dimensional flow model, a lower limit fluid flow rate up through the fault of 7 mm/yr is estimated, corresponding to a mantle 3 He flux of ∼10 4 atoms m −2 s −1 . A comparison between the fluids from Dixie Valley springs, fumaroles, and wells and the fluids produced from the geothermal field reveals a mixing trend between the geothermal fluid and younger, cooler groundwaters. The exceptions are those features that either emanate directly from the Stillwater fault or wells that penetrate and extract fluids from the fault zone, all of which have helium isotopic compositions that are indistinguishable from the geothermal production fluids. The results of our study indicate that the Stillwater Range Front Fault system must act as a permeable conduit that can sustain high vertical fluid flow rates from deep within the crust and crust-mantle boundary and that high permeability may exist along most of its length. This suggests that the geothermal potential of the Stillwater fault may be significantly greater than the 6–8 km long system presently under production. Since all the numerous springs, wells, and fumaroles in the valley also contain a fluid component that is indistinguishable from the geothermal/Stillwater fault fluid, the potential for an additional deeper and more pervasive geothermal system also exists and should be further evaluated. Furthermore, we suggest that elevated helium isotope compositions in regions with little or no recent magmatism are an indicator of the deep crustal permeability that is required to drive and sustain extensional geothermal systems.

to represent the transition between the two sections of the arc. The We report an extensive helium isotope survey of basaltic to andesitic tracer with the greatest sensitivity appears to be helium isotopes, as lavas from the Lesser Antilles island arc—an arc system with wellcontamination is seen first and most prominently in this system. documented evidence of crustal contamination. Given the sensitivity of helium isotopes as a tracer of the effects of crustal additions, our aim is to evaluate the relationship of He/He ratios to other indices of contamination processes such as oxygen and strontium isotopes.

Laser Ar-Ar dating of lunar melts improves chronology., Quantitative constraints on the ages of melt-forming impact events on the Moon are based primarily on isotope geochronology of returned samples. However, interpreting the results of such studies can often be difficult because the provenance region of any sample returned from the lunar surface may have experienced multiple impact events over the course of billions of years of bombardment. We illustrate this problem with new laser microprobe 40Ar/39Ar data for two Apollo 17 impact melt breccias. Whereas one sample yields a straightforward result, indicating a single melt-forming event at ca. 3.83 Ga, data from the other sample document multiple impact melt–forming events between ca. 3.81 Ga and at least as young as ca. 3.27 Ga. Notably, published zircon U/Pb data indicate the existence of even older melt products in the same sample. The revelation of multiple impact events through 40Ar/39Ar geochronology is likely not to have been possible using standard incremental heating methods alone, demonstrating the complementarity of the laser microprobe technique. Evidence for 3.83 Ga to 3.81 Ga melt components in these samples reinforces emerging interpretations that Apollo 17 impact breccia samples include a significant component of ejecta from the Imbrium basin impact. Collectively, our results underscore the need to quantitatively resolve the ages of different melt generations from multiple samples to improve our current understanding of the lunar impact record, and to establish the absolute ages of important impact structures encountered during future exploration missions in the inner Solar System.

Simple numerical models suggest that many basaltic lava flows should sufficiently heat the sediments beneath them to reset (U-Th)/He systematics in detrital zircon and apatite. This result suggests a useful way to date such flows when more conventional geochronological approaches are either impractical or yield specious results. We present here a test of this method on sediments interstratified with basalt flows of the Taos Plateau Volcanic Field of New Mexico. Nineteen zircons and apatites from two samples of baked sand collected from the uppermost 2 cm of a fluvial channel beneath a flow of the Upper Member of the Servilleta Basalt yielded an apparent age of 3.487 ± 0.047 Ma (2 SE confidence level), within the range of all published 40Ar/39Ar dates for other flows in the Upper Member (2.81–3.72 Ma) and statistically indistinguishable from the 40Ar/39Ar dates for basal flows of the Upper Member with which the studied flow is broadly correlative (3.61 ± 0.13 Ma). Given the high yield of 4He from U and Th decay, this technique may be especially useful for dating Pleistocene basalt flows. Detailed studies of the variation of (U-Th)/He detrital mineral dates in sedimentary substrates, combined with thermal modeling, may be a valuable tool for physical volcanologists who wish to explore the temporal and spatial evolution of individual flows and lava fields.

The accurate dating of meteorite impact structures on Earth has proven to be challenging. Melt sheets are amenable to high-precision dating by the U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar methods, but many impact events do not produce them, or they are not preserved. In cases where high-temperature shock metamorphism of the target materials has occurred without widespread melting, these isotopic chronometers may be partially reset and yield dates that are difficult to interpret unambiguously as the age of impact. However, the (U-Th)/He chronometer is sensitive to thermal resetting and can provide a powerful new tool for dating impactites. We report (U-Th)/He dates for accessory minerals from the Manicouagan impact structure in Quebec, Canada. Nine zircons from a melt sheet sample yield a weighted mean age of 213.2 ± 5.4 Ma (2SE), indistinguishable from the published 214 ± 1 Ma (2σ) U-Pb zircon age for the impact. In contrast, five apatites from this sample yield dates between 205.9 ± 6.5 and 162.0 ± 5.3 Ma (2σ), indicating variable postimpact helium loss due to low-temperature thermal disturbance. Preimpact titanite crystals from a shocked meta-anorthosite sample yield two dates consistent with the impact age, at 212 ± 27 and 214 ± 13 Ma (2σ), and two younger dates of 189.6 ± 6.9 and 192.2 ± 9.8 Ma (2σ), suggestive of postimpact helium loss. These results indicate that (U-Th)/He chronometry is a suitable method for dating impact events, although interpretation of the results requires recognition of possible 4He loss related to reheating subsequent to impact.

[1] Structural and thermochronologic studies of the western margin of the central Andean Plateau show changing styles of deformation through time that give insights into tectonic evolution. In southwest Peru, uplift of the plateau proceeded in several distinct phases. First, NW striking, NE dipping reverse faults accommodated uplift prior to ∼14–16 Ma. Subsequent uplift of the plateau relative to the piedmont (between the plateau and the Pacific Ocean) occurred between ∼14 and 2.2 Ma and was accommodated by NW striking, SW dipping normal faults and subparallel monoclinal folds. The youngest phase of uplift affected the piedmont region and the plateau margin as a coherent block. Although the uplift magnitude associated with phase 1 is unknown, phases 2 and 3 resulted in at least 2.4–3.0 km of uplift. Up to 1 km of this may have occurred during phase 3. Geodynamic processes occurring in both the continental interior and the subduction zone likely contributed to uplift.

Apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He ages from Ocona canyon at the western margin of the Central Andean plateau record rock cooling histories induced by a major phase of canyon incision. We quantify the timing and magnitude of incision by integrating previously published ages from the valley bottom with 19 new sample ages from four valley wall transects. Interpretation of the incision history from cooling ages is complicated by a southwest to northeast increase in temperatures at the base of the crust due to subduction and volcanism. Furthermore, the large magnitude of incision leads to additional three-dimensional variations in the thermal field. We address these complications with finite element thermal and thermochronometer age prediction models to quantify the range of topographic evolution scenarios consistent with observed cooling ages. Comparison of 275 model simulations to observed cooling ages and regional heat flow determinations identify a best fit history with

Heat and mass are injected into the shallow crust when mantle fluids are able to flow through the ductile lower crust. Minimum 3 He/ 4 He ratios in surface fluids from the northern Basin and Range Province, western North America, increase systematically from low crustal values in the east to high mantle values in the west, a regional trend that correlates with the rates of active crustal deformation. The highest ratios occur where the extension and shear strain rates are greatest. The correspondence of helium isotope ratios and active transtensional deformation indicates a deformation-enhanced permeability and that mantle fluids can penetrate the ductile lithosphere, even in regions where there is no substantial magmatism. Superimposed on the regional trend are local, high 3 He/ 4 He anomalies indicating hidden magmatic activity and/or deep fluid production with locally enhanced permeability, identifying zones with high resource potential, particularly for geothermal energy development.