Skip to main content
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Etching of fission tracks in monazite: Further evidence from optical and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy

  • ORCID logo , and ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: May 27, 2022
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 107 Issue 6

Abstract

A series of experiments on monazites from Victoria, Australia, is presented to further understand their fission track etching properties. Using a 6 M HCl etchant at 90 °C, SEM images on crystal (100) pinacoid faces reveal well-etched rhombic spontaneous fission track openings. Average rhombic etch pit diameters Dpc and Dpb, parallel to the crystallographic c- and b-axes are 0.81 ± 0.20 μm and 0.73 ± 0.26 μm, respectively. An angular distribution experiment on (100) faces found that spontaneous fission tracks initially etch anisotropically, being preferentially revealed at an azimuth of 90° to the crystallographic c-axis up to ~60 min of etching. As etching continues, however, the distribution becomes progressively more uniform and is essentially isotropic by 90 min. Two experimental methods determined the rate at which the etchant penetrated along the lengths of implanted 252Cf fission tracks. This involved the application of a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) to mill progressively into slightly etched monazite crystals followed by an etch-anneal-etch approach. Results indicate that at least the greater part of the etchable ranges of the latent fission tracks were penetrated by the 6 M HCl etchant within the first few minutes. Continued etching to 5 min indicates that track etching slows down toward the ends of the tracks, but the maximum ranges are estimated to be reached after 5–15 min, which represents the longest time the latent segments of the tracks are exposed to potential annealing at the etchant temperature. Taking into account that implanted 252Cf fission tracks in monazite anneal on average ~4% of their length at 90 °C after 1 h (Jones et al. 2019), suggests that a much shorter duration for exposure to this temperature causes less than ~1% of fission track length reduction during etching.

Keywords: Monazite; fission tracks; etching; FIB-SEM; etch-anneal-etch

Funding statement: S.J. acknowledges funding from the Australian Government through the Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. The Melbourne thermochronology laboratory is supported by the AuScope Program funded under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Acknowledgments

We thank Abaz Alimanovíc and Ling Chung for their assistance in the laboratory and Graham Hutchinson for SEM analysis and imagery. Sergey Rubanov of the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne is also thanked for training and assistance with the FIB-SEM. We thank Murat Tamer, Ewald Hejl, and an anonymous reviewer for their thorough and constructive reviews, which improved the manuscript.

References cited

Clavier, N., Podor, R., and Dacheux, N. (2011) Crystal chemistry of the monazite structure. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 31, 941–976.10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2010.12.019Search in Google Scholar

Clemens, J.D. (2018) Granitic magmas with I-type affinities, from mainly metasedimentary sources: the Harcourt batholith of southeastern Australia. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 173, 1–20.10.1007/s00410-018-1520-zSearch in Google Scholar

Donelick, R.A., O’Sullivan, P.B., and Ketcham, R.A. (2005) Apatite fission-track analysis. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 58, 49–94.10.1515/9781501509575-005Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A.J.W. (1978) Anisotropic and variable track etching characteristics in natural sphenes. Nuclear Track Detection, 2, 105–117.10.1016/0145-224X(78)90008-XSearch in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A.J.W., Hurford, A.J., and Quaife, R.D. (1976) Fission Track Dating of Zircon: Improved Etching Techniques. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 33, 273–276.10.1016/0012-821X(76)90235-1Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A.J.W., Gleadow, S.J., Frei, S., Kohlmann, F., and Kohn, B.P. (2009) Automated analytical techniques for fission track thermochronology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Supplement, 73, A441.Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A., Kohn, B., and Seiler, C. (2019) The future of fission-track thermochronology. In M. Malusà and P. Fitzgerald, Eds., Fission-Track Thermochronology and Its Application to Geology, pp. 77–92. Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-89421-8_4Search in Google Scholar

Green, P.F., Bull, R.K., and Durrani, S.A. (1978) Particle identification from track-etch rates in minerals. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 157, 185–193.10.1016/0029-554X(78)90605-5Search in Google Scholar

Jones, S., Gleadow, A., Kohn, B., and Reddy, S.M. (2019) Etching of fission tracks in monazite: An experimental study. Terra Nova, Special Issue—Thermo2018, 31, 179–110.10.1111/ter.12382Search in Google Scholar

Jones, S., Gleadow, A., and Kohn, B. (2021) Thermal annealing of implanted 252Cf fission-tracks in monazite. Geochronology, 3, 89–102.10.5194/gchron-3-89-2021Search in Google Scholar

Kohn, B.P., Chung, L., and Gleadow, A.J.W. (2019) Fission-track analysis: Field collection, sample preparation and data acquisition. In M.G. Malusà and P.G. Fitzgerald, Eds., Fission-Track Thermochronology and its Application to Geology, p. 25–48. Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-89421-8_2Search in Google Scholar

Price, P.B., and Walker, R.M. (1962) Chemical etching of charged-particle tracks in solids. Journal of Applied Physics, 33, 3407–3412.10.1063/1.1702421Search in Google Scholar

Ruschel, K., Nasdala, L., Kronz, A., Hanchar, J.M., Többens, D.M., Škoda, R., Finger, F., and Möller, A. (2012) A Raman spectroscopic study on the structural disorder of monazite–(Ce). Mineralogy and Petrology, 105, 41–55.10.1007/s00710-012-0197-7Search in Google Scholar

Shukoljukov, J.A., and Komarov, A.N. (1970) Tracks of uranium fission in monazite. In Bulletin of the Commission for the Determination of the Absolute Age of Geological Formations, pp. 20–26. Akademii Nauk, Moscow (in Russian).Search in Google Scholar

Sullivan, C.J. (1947) Record 1947/10: Geology and mineral resources of the Murray Valley Region. Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics.Search in Google Scholar

Tamer, M.T., and Ketcham, R.A. (2020) The along-track etching structure of fission tracks in apatite: Observations and implications. Chemical Geology, 553, 119809.10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.119809Search in Google Scholar

Wagner, G.A., and Van den Haute, P. (1992) Fission-Track Dating, 2nd ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers.10.1007/978-94-011-2478-2Search in Google Scholar

Weise, C., van den Boogaart, K.G., Jonckheere, R., and Ratschbacher, L. (2009) Annealing kinetics of Kr-tracks in monazite: Implications for fission-track modelling. Chemical Geology, 260, 129–137.10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.12.014Search in Google Scholar

Wirth, R. (2009) Focused Ion Beam (FIB) combined with SEM and TEM: Advanced analytical tools for studies of chemical composition, microstructure and crystal structure in geomaterials on a nanometre scale. Chemical Geology, 261, 217–229.10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.05.019Search in Google Scholar

Young, R.J., and Moore, M.V. (2005) DUAL-BEAM (FIB-SEM) SYSTEMS techniques and automated applications. In L.A. Giannuzzi and F.A. Stevie, Eds., Introduction to Focused Ion Beams. Instrumentation, Theory, Techniques and Practice, pp. 247–268. Springer.10.1007/0-387-23313-X_12Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2021-02-02
Accepted: 2021-05-27
Published Online: 2022-05-27
Published in Print: 2022-05-27

© 2022 Mineralogical Society of America

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Periodic and non-periodic stacking in molybdenite (MoS2) revealed by STEM
  2. The effect of halogens (F, Cl) on the near-liquidus crystallinity of a hydrous trachyte melt
  3. Occurrence of tuite and ahrensite in Zagami and their significance for shock-histories recorded in martian meteorites
  4. Zolenskyite, FeCr2S4, a new sulfide mineral from the Indarch meteorite
  5. Refined estimation of Li in mica by a machine learning method
  6. Olivine in picrites from continental flood basalt provinces classified using machine learning
  7. The glass transition and the non-Arrhenian viscosity of carbonate melts
  8. Etching of fission tracks in monazite: Further evidence from optical and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy
  9. The low-temperature shift of antigorite dehydration in the presence of sodium chloride: In situ diffraction study up to 3 GPa and 700 °C
  10. Chemistry-dependent Raman spectral features of glauconite and nontronite: Implications for mineral identification and provenance analysis
  11. Experimental determination of solubility constants of saponite at elevated temperatures in high ionic strength solutions
  12. Hydrothermal troctolite alteration at 300 and 400 °C: Insights from flexible Au-reaction cell batch experimental investigations
  13. Timescales and rates of intrusive and metamorphic processes determined from zircon and garnet in migmatitic granulite, Fiordland, New Zealand
  14. In situ chemical and isotopic analyses and element mapping of multiple-generation pyrite: Evidence of episodic gold mobilization and deposition for the Qiucun epithermal gold deposit in Southeast China
  15. Hydrothermal mineralization of celadonite: Hybridized fluid–basalt interaction in Janggi, Korea
  16. Gungerite, TlAs5Sb4S13, a new thallium sulfosalt with a complex structure containing covalent As-As bonds
  17. Nitscheite, (NH4)2[(UO2)2(SO4)3(H2O)2]·3H2O, a new mineral with an unusual uranyl-sulfate sheet
  18. Protocaseyite, a new decavanadate mineral containing a [Al4(OH)6(H2O)12]6+ linear tetramer, a novel isopolycation
  19. Fission-track etching in apatite: A model and some implications
  20. Hydrothermal monazite trumps rutile: Applying U-Pb geochronology to evaluate complex mineralization ages of the Katbasu Au-Cu deposit, Western Tianshan, Northwest China
  21. Erratum
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8002
Keywords for this article
Monazite; fission tracks; etching; FIB-SEM; etch-anneal-etch

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Periodic and non-periodic stacking in molybdenite (MoS2) revealed by STEM
  2. The effect of halogens (F, Cl) on the near-liquidus crystallinity of a hydrous trachyte melt
  3. Occurrence of tuite and ahrensite in Zagami and their significance for shock-histories recorded in martian meteorites
  4. Zolenskyite, FeCr2S4, a new sulfide mineral from the Indarch meteorite
  5. Refined estimation of Li in mica by a machine learning method
  6. Olivine in picrites from continental flood basalt provinces classified using machine learning
  7. The glass transition and the non-Arrhenian viscosity of carbonate melts
  8. Etching of fission tracks in monazite: Further evidence from optical and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy
  9. The low-temperature shift of antigorite dehydration in the presence of sodium chloride: In situ diffraction study up to 3 GPa and 700 °C
  10. Chemistry-dependent Raman spectral features of glauconite and nontronite: Implications for mineral identification and provenance analysis
  11. Experimental determination of solubility constants of saponite at elevated temperatures in high ionic strength solutions
  12. Hydrothermal troctolite alteration at 300 and 400 °C: Insights from flexible Au-reaction cell batch experimental investigations
  13. Timescales and rates of intrusive and metamorphic processes determined from zircon and garnet in migmatitic granulite, Fiordland, New Zealand
  14. In situ chemical and isotopic analyses and element mapping of multiple-generation pyrite: Evidence of episodic gold mobilization and deposition for the Qiucun epithermal gold deposit in Southeast China
  15. Hydrothermal mineralization of celadonite: Hybridized fluid–basalt interaction in Janggi, Korea
  16. Gungerite, TlAs5Sb4S13, a new thallium sulfosalt with a complex structure containing covalent As-As bonds
  17. Nitscheite, (NH4)2[(UO2)2(SO4)3(H2O)2]·3H2O, a new mineral with an unusual uranyl-sulfate sheet
  18. Protocaseyite, a new decavanadate mineral containing a [Al4(OH)6(H2O)12]6+ linear tetramer, a novel isopolycation
  19. Fission-track etching in apatite: A model and some implications
  20. Hydrothermal monazite trumps rutile: Applying U-Pb geochronology to evaluate complex mineralization ages of the Katbasu Au-Cu deposit, Western Tianshan, Northwest China
  21. Erratum
Downloaded on 16.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am-2022-8002/html
Scroll to top button