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A quantitative description of fission-track etching in apatite

  • Carolin Aslanian , Raymond Jonckheere ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Bastian Wauschkuhn and Lothar Ratschbacher
Published/Copyright: April 24, 2021
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 106 Issue 4

Abstract

We measured the apatite etch rate vR in 5.5 M HNO3 at 21 °C as a function of orientation. Results for Durango apatite evidence that vR varies by a factor >5 with angle to the c-axis. Our measurements also provided track etch rates vT and surface etch rates vS. However, these cannot be combined for calculating track etching or counting efficiencies. By inserting the measured etch rates in a recent model, we calculate the geometries and dimensions of surface tracks in different apatite faces. The proposed model must be recalibrated for different etching protocols and adapted for other minerals. We submit that the new model justifies reviewing track counting efficiencies based on the existing (vB-vT) etch model. We anticipate that this will have an effect on practical aspects of fission track dating. Single-track step-etch data show that the confined track lengths increase with etch time at a decreasing average rate vL that differs from the track etch rate vT and the apatite etch rate vR. Both vT and vL exhibit large track-to-track differences that produce irreducible length variation related to the latent-track structure resulting from formation and annealing. Step etching and track width measurements are effective for reducing or eliminating procedure-related artifacts from track length data, and so for accessing more fundamental track properties.

Keywords: Apatite; fission track; etching; apatite etch rate; track etch rate; Experimental Halogens in Honor of Jim Webster

† Special collection papers can be found online at http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/AmMin/special-collections.html.

Acknowledgments and funding

Research funded by the German Research Council (DFG project Jo 358/4-1). We are much indebted to R. Ketcham and A.J.W. Gleadow for their professional reviews, which greatly improved our manuscript.

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Received: 2020-05-17
Accepted: 2020-08-19
Published Online: 2021-04-24
Published in Print: 2021-04-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2021-7614
Keywords for this article
Apatite; fission track; etching; apatite etch rate; track etch rate; Experimental Halogens in Honor of Jim Webster

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Gamma-enhancement of reflected light images: A rapid, effective tool for assessment of compositional heterogeneity in pyrite
  2. Thermal metamorphic history of Antarctic CV3 and CO3 chondrites inferred from the first- and second-order Raman peaks of polyaromatic organic carbon
  3. A quantitative description of fission-track etching in apatite
  4. Spectroscopic analysis of allophane and imogolite samples with variable Fe abundance for characterizing the poorly crystalline components on Mars
  5. Relationship between 207Pb NMR chemical shift and the morphology and crystal structure for the apatites Pb5(AO4)3Cl, vanadinite (A = V), pyromorphite (A = P), and mimetite (A = As)
  6. Effect of cationic substitution on the pressure-induced phase transitions in calcium carbonate
  7. Immiscible-melt inclusions in corundum megacrysts: Microanalyses and geological implications
  8. Water quantification in olivine and wadsleyite by Raman spectroscopy and study of errors and uncertainties
  9. High-pressure and high-temperature vibrational properties and anharmonicity of carbonate minerals up to 6 GPa and 500 °C by Raman spectroscopy
  10. Vanadium-induced coloration in grossite (CaAl4O7) and hibonite (CaAl12O19)
  11. Incorporation mechanism of tungsten in W-Fe-Cr-V-bearing rutile
  12. Titanium diffusion profiles and melt inclusion chemistry and morphology in quartz from the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuf
  13. Vasilseverginite, Cu9O4(AsO4)2(SO4)2, a new fumarolic mineral with a hybrid structure containing novel anion-centered tetrahedral structural units
  14. Priscillagrewite-(Y), (Ca2Y)Zr2Al3O12: A new garnet of the bitikleite group from the Daba-Siwaqa area, the Hatrurim Complex, Jordan
  15. Stöfflerite, (Ca,Na)(Si,Al)4O8 in the hollandite structure: A new high-pressure polymorph of anorthite from martian meteorite NWA 856
  16. Recycled volatiles determine fertility of porphyry deposits in collisional settings
  17. Letter
  18. Nitrogen diffusion in silicate melts under reducing conditions
  19. Book Review
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