Abstract
Parallel fission-track-surface intersections identify the grains in an etched apatite mount that have been polished parallel to their prism faces and mark the orientations of their c-axes. Their lengths (Dpar) are a practical kinetic parameter that is indicative of the track annealing rate of apatite. Little is known, however, about their geometrical properties in non-prism faces. We present a model calculation of the frequency distributions of the orientations, lengths, and widths of track-surface intersections in non-prism faces. The current model does not include the efects of surface etching or measurement imprecision. However, as far as it goes, it is consistent with measurements in apatite surfaces up to 30° to the c-axis. Regardless of the model, we submit that the statistical properties of the fission-track-surface intersections have practical uses. The distribution of their orientations is characteristic of the orientation of the etched surface relative to the c-axis. The distribution of their lengths presents a possible tool for investigating track etching, in particular for evaluating the tracks added and lost through surface etching. The distribution of their widths is a potential kinetic parameter independent of surface orientation and less susceptible to the factors, such as the sampling method and surface etch rate, that produce conflicting Dpar values.
Acknowledgments and funding
Research funded by the German Research Council (DFG project Jo 358/4-1). This contribution owes much to the careful and insightful reviews of R. Ketcham and R. Arató. We are grateful to our paleontologist colleagues for the occasional peace and quiet that allowed us to complete this investigation.
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Endnotes
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- MSA Centennial Review Paper
- How American Mineralogist and the Mineralogical Society of America influenced a career in mineralogy, petrology, and plate pushing, and thoughts on mineralogy’s future role
- Petrographic and spectral study of hydrothermal mineralization in drill core from Hawaii: A potential analog to alteration in the martian subsurface
- Characterizing low-temperature aqueous alteration of Mars-analog basalts from Mauna Kea at multiple scales
- Archean to Paleoproterozoic seawater halogen ratios recorded by fluid inclusions in chert and hydrothermal quartz
- Metasomatism-controlled hydrogen distribution in the Spitsbergen upper mantle
- Phase transformation of hydrous ringwoodite to the lower-mantle phases and the formation of dense hydrous silica
- Density and sound velocity of liquid Fe-S alloys at Earth’s outer core P-T conditions
- Some geometrical properties of fission-track-surface intersections in apatite
- Thermal equation of state of post-aragonite CaCO3-Pmmn
- Structure of NaFeSiO4, NaFeSi2O6, and NaFeSi3O8 glasses and glass-ceramics
- Raman spectroscopic studies of O–H stretching vibration in Mn-rich apatites: A structural approach
- Characterization of modified mineral waste material adsorbent as affected by thermal treatment for optimizing its adsorption of lead and methyl orange
- Morin-type transition in 5C pyrrhotite
- The formation of marine red beds and iron cycling on the Mesoproterozoic North China Platform
- A multi-methodological study of kernite, a mineral commodity of boron
- Letter
- Si-rich Mg-sursassite Mg4Al5Si7O23(OH)5 with octahedrally coordinated Si: A new ultrahigh-pressure hydrous phase
- Inherited Eocene magmatic tourmaline captured by the Miocene Himalayan leucogranites
- Memorial of F. Donald Bloss 1920–2020
- Book Review
Artikel in diesem Heft
- MSA Centennial Review Paper
- How American Mineralogist and the Mineralogical Society of America influenced a career in mineralogy, petrology, and plate pushing, and thoughts on mineralogy’s future role
- Petrographic and spectral study of hydrothermal mineralization in drill core from Hawaii: A potential analog to alteration in the martian subsurface
- Characterizing low-temperature aqueous alteration of Mars-analog basalts from Mauna Kea at multiple scales
- Archean to Paleoproterozoic seawater halogen ratios recorded by fluid inclusions in chert and hydrothermal quartz
- Metasomatism-controlled hydrogen distribution in the Spitsbergen upper mantle
- Phase transformation of hydrous ringwoodite to the lower-mantle phases and the formation of dense hydrous silica
- Density and sound velocity of liquid Fe-S alloys at Earth’s outer core P-T conditions
- Some geometrical properties of fission-track-surface intersections in apatite
- Thermal equation of state of post-aragonite CaCO3-Pmmn
- Structure of NaFeSiO4, NaFeSi2O6, and NaFeSi3O8 glasses and glass-ceramics
- Raman spectroscopic studies of O–H stretching vibration in Mn-rich apatites: A structural approach
- Characterization of modified mineral waste material adsorbent as affected by thermal treatment for optimizing its adsorption of lead and methyl orange
- Morin-type transition in 5C pyrrhotite
- The formation of marine red beds and iron cycling on the Mesoproterozoic North China Platform
- A multi-methodological study of kernite, a mineral commodity of boron
- Letter
- Si-rich Mg-sursassite Mg4Al5Si7O23(OH)5 with octahedrally coordinated Si: A new ultrahigh-pressure hydrous phase
- Inherited Eocene magmatic tourmaline captured by the Miocene Himalayan leucogranites
- Memorial of F. Donald Bloss 1920–2020
- Book Review