Skip to main content
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Compositional effects on the etching of fossil confined fission tracks in apatite

  • , , ORCID logo EMAIL logo and
Published/Copyright: November 29, 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 109 Issue 12

Abstract

Fission track analysis is a thermochronologic method for dating rocks and reconstructing their low-temperature thermal histories. We investigate the influence of the apatite composition on the etching of fossil confined fission tracks and its consequences for the fission track method. We conducted step-etch experiments with 5.5 M HNO3 at 21 °C on samples with etch pit diameters (Dpar) spanning most of the range for natural apatites (Panasqueira: 1.60 μm; Slyudyanka: 2.44 μm; Brazil: 3.92 μm; and Bamble: 4.60 μm) to determine their apatite etch rates vR (the rate at which each lattice plane is displaced parallel to itself) as a function of crystallographic orientation (ϕ′). Our measurements revealed significant differences between the four samples. We fitted three-parameter functions, vR = a (Dpar)ϕ′eb(Dpar)ϕ′ + c, describing vR as a function of the angle to the apatite c-axis for our hexagonal samples (excluding Bamble) and Durango apatite. Both parameters a and b exhibit a linear correlation with Dpar, whereas the constant c is small (~0.1 μm/min) and its between-sample variation is negligible at the resolution of our measurements. Bamble exhibits a different, bimodal relationship between vR and ϕ′, which we fitted with a sum of two sine functions. In all cases, including Bamble, there is a striking correlation between the angular frequencies of horizontal confined tracks and the magnitude of the apatite etch rate vR perpendicular to the track axes. This result shows that the sample of confined tracks selected for measurement and modeling is to a much greater degree determined by the etching properties of the apatite sample than by geometric or subjective biases. The track etch rate vT is constant along most of the track length but varies from track to track. The mean vT correlates with Dpar, so that tracks etch to their full lengths in a shorter time in faster etching apatites. The mean rate of length increase between etch steps, vL, also correlates with Dpar. The length increments of individual tracks are however irregular. This points to an intermittent structure at the ends of the tracks.

Keywords: Apatite; fission track; confined track; track revelation; apatite etch rate; track etch rate; Isotopes; Minerals; and Petrology: Honoring John Valley

† Special collection papers can be found online at our website in the Special Collection section.

‡ Present address: Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Ltd., CNPC, Chengdu, Sichuan 610051, China.

Acknowledgments and funding

We are indebted to R. Donelick and R. Ketcham for reviewing our manuscript and for their helpful comments and to D. Harlov for efficient editorial handling. Research funded by the Innovation Team Project of Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant Number: 2021CFA031), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 42372181), and the German Research Council (DFG projects JO 358/4 and Ra 442/42).

References cited

Aslanian, C., Jonckheere, R., Wauschkuhn, B., and Ratschbacher, L. (2021) A quantitative description of fission-track etching in apatite. American Mineralogist, 106, 518–526, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2021-7614.Search in Google Scholar

Barbarand, J., Carter, A., Wood, I., and Hurford, T. (2003) Compositional and structural control of fission-track annealing in apatite. Chemical Geology, 198, 107–137, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(02)00424-2.Search in Google Scholar

Bull, R. and Durrani, S. (1975) Annealing and etching studies of fossil and fresh tracks in lunar and analogous crystals. In R.B. Merrill, Ed., Proceedings of 6th Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, March 17–21, 1975, Volume 3. Pergamon Press.Search in Google Scholar

Burtner, R.L., Nigrini, A., and Donelick, R.A. (1994) Thermochronology of lower Cretaceous source rocks in the Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt. AAPG Bulletin, 78, 1613–1636.Search in Google Scholar

Carlson, W.D., Donelick, R.A., and Ketcham, R.A. (1999) Variability of apatite fission-track annealing kinetics: I. Experimental results. American Mineralogist, 84, 1213–1223, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-1999-0901.Search in Google Scholar

Donelick, R.A. (1993) A method of fission track analysis utilizing bulk chemical etching of apatite. U.S. Patent Number 5,267,274.Search in Google Scholar

Donelick, R.A., Ketcham, R.A., and Carlson, W.D. (1999) Variability of apatite fission-track annealing kinetics: II. Crystallographic orientation effects. American Mineralogist, 84, 1224–1234, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-1999-0902.Search in Google Scholar

Fleischer, R., Price, P., and Walker, R. (1965) Ion explosion spike mechanism for formation of charged-particle tracks in solids. Journal of Applied Physics, 36, 3645–3652, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1703059.Search in Google Scholar

Galbraith, R.F. (2002) Some remarks on fission-track observational biases and crystallographic orientation effects. American Mineralogist, 87, 991–995, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2002-0723.Search in Google Scholar

Galbraith, R.F. (2005) Statistics for Fission Track Analysis, 240 p. CRC Press.Search in Google Scholar

Galbraith, R., Laslett, G., Green, P., and Duddy, I. (1990) Apatite fission track analysis: Geological thermal history analysis based on a three-dimensional random process of linear radiation damage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Physical and Engineering Sciences, 332, 419–438.Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A. (1981) Fission-track dating methods: What are the real alternatives? Nuclear Tracks, 5, 3–14, https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-278X(81)90021-4.Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A., Duddy, I.R., and Lovering, J. (1983) Fission track analysis: A new tool for the evaluation of thermal histories and hydrocarbon potential. APPEA Journal, 23, 93–102, https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ82009.Search in Google Scholar

Gleadow, A.J., Duddy, I., Green, P.F., and Lovering, J. (1986) Confined fission track lengths in apatite: A diagnostic tool for thermal history analysis. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 94, 405–415, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00376334.Search in Google Scholar

Hurford, A.J. (2019) An historical perspective on fission-track thermochronology. In M.G. Malusà and P.G. Fitzgerald, Eds., Fission-Track Thermochronology and its Application to Geology, p. 3–23. Geography and Environment.Search in Google Scholar

Jonckheere, R. (2003) On the densities of etchable fission tracks in a mineral and co-irradiated external detector with reference to fission-track dating of minerals. Chemical Geology, 200, 41–58, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(03)00116-5.Search in Google Scholar

Jonckheere, R., Tamer, M.T., Wauschkuhn, B., Wauschkuhn, F., and Ratschbacher, L. (2017) Single-track length measurements of step-etched fission tracks in Durango apatite: “Vorsprung durch Technik”. American Mineralogist, 102, 987–996.Search in Google Scholar

Jonckheere, R., Wauschkuhn, B., and Ratschbacher, L. (2019) On growth and form of etched fission tracks in apatite: A kinetic approach. American Mineralogist. Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials, 104, 569–579.Search in Google Scholar

Jonckheere, R., Aslanian, C., Wauschkuhn, B., and Ratschbacher, L. (2022) Fission-track etching in apatite: A model and some implications. American Mineralogist. Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials, 107, 1190–1200.Search in Google Scholar

Ketcham, R.A. (2003) Observations on the relationship between crystallographic orientation and biasing in apatite fission-track measurements. American Mineralogist, 88, 817–829, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2003-5-610.Search in Google Scholar

Ketcham, R.A. (2005) Forward and inverse modeling of low-temperature thermochronometry data. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 58, 275–314, https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2005.58.11.Search in Google Scholar

Ketcham, R.A. and Tamer, M.T. (2021) Confined fission-track revelation in apatite: How it works and why it matters. Geochronology, 3, 433–464, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-433-2021.Search in Google Scholar

Ketcham, R.A., Carter, A., and Hurford, A.J. (2015) Inter-laboratory comparison of fission track confined length and etch figure measurements in apatite. American Mineralogist, 100, 1452–1468, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5167.Search in Google Scholar

Laslett, G., Kendall, W., Gleadow, A., and Duddy, I. (1982) Bias in measurement of fission-track length distributions. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 6, 79–85, https://doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(82)90031-X.Search in Google Scholar

Laslett, G., Gleadow, A., and Duddy, I. (1984) The relationship between fission track length and track density in apatite. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements (1982), 9, 29–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/0735-245X(84)90019-X.Search in Google Scholar

Li, W., Wang, L., Lang, M., Trautmann, C., and Ewing, R.C. (2011) Thermal annealing mechanisms of latent fission tracks: Apatite vs. zircon. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 302, 227–235, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.12.016.Search in Google Scholar

Li, W., Lang, M., Gleadow, A.J., Zdorovets, M.V., and Ewing, R.C. (2012) Thermal annealing of unetched fission tracks in apatite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 321-322, 121–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.008.Search in Google Scholar

Moreira, P., Guedes, S., Iunes, P., and Hadler, J. (2010) Fission track chemical etching kinetic model. Radiation Measurements, 45, 157–162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2009.12.003.Search in Google Scholar

Paul, T. (1993) Transmission electron microscopy investigation of unetched fission tracks in fluorapatite—Physical process of annealing. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 21, 507–511, https://doi.org/10.1016/1359-0189(93)90190-K.Search in Google Scholar

Paul, T.A. and Fitzgerald, P.G. (1992) Transmission electron microscopic investigation of fission tracks in fluorapatite. American Mineralogist, 77, 336–344.Search in Google Scholar

Price, P. and Fleischer, R. (1971) Identification of energetic heavy nuclei with solid dielectric track detectors: Applications to astrophysical and planetary studies. Annual Review of Nuclear Science, 21, 295–334, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ns.21.120171.001455.Search in Google Scholar

Price, P. and Walker, R. (1962) Chemical etching of charged-particle tracks in solids. Journal of Applied Physics, 33, 3407–3412, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1702421.Search in Google Scholar

Price, P., Lal, D., Tamhane, A., and Perelygin, V. (1973) Characteristics of tracks of ions of 14⩽ Z⩽ 36 in common rock silicates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 19, 377–395, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(73)90089-7.Search in Google Scholar

Ravenhurst, C.E., Roden-Tice, M.K., and Miller, D.S. (2003) Thermal annealing of fission tracks in fluorapatite, chlorapatite, manganoanapatite, and Durango apatite: Experimental results. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 40, 995–1007, https://doi.org/10.1139/e03-032.Search in Google Scholar

Rebetez, M., Chambaudet, A., and Mars, M. (1988) Theoretical etching effects on “track in track” and “track in cleavage” length distributions. International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation. Part D. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 15, 69–72, https://doi.org/10.1016/1359-0189(88)90104-5.Search in Google Scholar

Sobel, E.R. and Seward, D. (2010) Influence of etching conditions on apatite fission-track etch pit diameter. Chemical Geology, 271, 59–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.12.012.Search in Google Scholar

Szenes, G. (1996a) Formation of amorphous latent tracks in mica. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 107, 146–149, https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(95)01020-3.Search in Google Scholar

Szenes, G. (1996b) Thermal spike model of amorphous track formation in insulators irradiated by swift heavy ions. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 116, 141–144, https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(96)00025-0.Search in Google Scholar

Taborszky, F. (1972) Das problem der Cl-apatite. Lithos, 5, 315–324, https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-4937(72)90087-4.Search in Google Scholar

Tagami, T. and O’Sullivan, P.B. (2005) Fundamentals of fission-track thermochronology. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 58, 19–47, https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2005.58.2.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, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.119809.Search in Google Scholar

Tamer, M.T., Chung, L., Ketcham, R.A., and Gleadow, A.J. (2019) Analyst and etching protocol effects on the reproducibility of apatite confined fission-track length measurement, and ambient-temperature annealing at decadal timescales. American Mineralogist, 104, 1421–1435, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2019-7046.Search in Google Scholar

Tello, C.A., Palissari, R., Hadler, J.C., Iunes, P.J., Guedes, S., Curvo, E.A., and Paulo, S.R. (2006) Annealing experiments on induced fission tracks in apatite: Measurements of horizontal-confined track lengths and track densities in basal sections and randomly oriented grains. American Mineralogist, 91, 252–260, https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2006.1269.Search in Google Scholar

Trilsch, F., Fu, Hongyang, Jonckheere, R., Ratschbacher, L. (2023) Effective etch times of fossil fission tracks in geological apatite samples and impact on temperature-time modeling. Lithosphere (Special 14), lithosphere_2023_339, https://doi.org/10.2113/2023/lithosphere_2023_339.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2024-01-25
Accepted: 2024-04-23
Published Online: 2024-11-29
Published in Print: 2024-12-15

© 2024 by Mineralogical Society of America

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Fluids in the shallow mantle of southeastern Australia: Insights from phase equilibria
  2. Compositional effects on the etching of fossil confined fission tracks in apatite
  3. Evaluation of the Rietveld method for determining content and chemical composition of inorganic X-ray amorphous materials in soils
  4. High-pressure phase transition of olivine-type Mg2GeO4 to a metastable forsterite-III type structure and their equations of state
  5. The application of “transfer learning” in optical microscopy: The petrographic classification of opaque minerals
  6. Mechanisms of fluid degassing in shallow magma chambers control the formation of porphyry deposits
  7. The OH-stretching region in infrared spectra of the apatite OH-Cl binary system
  8. Thermal equation of state of Li-rich schorl up to 15.5 GPa and 673 K: Implications for lithium and boron transport in slab subduction
  9. Raman scattering of omphacite at high pressure: Toward its possible application to elastic geothermobarometry
  10. Interpreting mineral deposit genesis classification with decision maps: A case study using pyrite trace elements
  11. Geochemical characteristics of mineral inclusions in the Luobusa chromitite (Southern Tibet): Implications for an intricate geological setting
  12. Three new iron-phosphate minerals from the El Ali iron meteorite, Somalia: Elaliite Fe82+ Fe3+(PO4)O8, elkinstantonite Fe4(PO4)2O, and olsenite KFe4(PO4)3
  13. Intervalence charge transfer in aluminum oxide and aluminosilicate minerals at elevated temperatures
  14. Electron probe microanalysis of trace sulfur in experimental basaltic glasses and silicate minerals
  15. New Mineral Names
  16. Book Review
  17. Book Review: Celebrating the International Year of Mineralogy: Progress and Landmark Discoveries of the Last Decades
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2024-9331
Keywords for this article
Apatite; fission track; confined track; track revelation; apatite etch rate; track etch rate; Isotopes; Minerals; and Petrology: Honoring John Valley

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Fluids in the shallow mantle of southeastern Australia: Insights from phase equilibria
  2. Compositional effects on the etching of fossil confined fission tracks in apatite
  3. Evaluation of the Rietveld method for determining content and chemical composition of inorganic X-ray amorphous materials in soils
  4. High-pressure phase transition of olivine-type Mg2GeO4 to a metastable forsterite-III type structure and their equations of state
  5. The application of “transfer learning” in optical microscopy: The petrographic classification of opaque minerals
  6. Mechanisms of fluid degassing in shallow magma chambers control the formation of porphyry deposits
  7. The OH-stretching region in infrared spectra of the apatite OH-Cl binary system
  8. Thermal equation of state of Li-rich schorl up to 15.5 GPa and 673 K: Implications for lithium and boron transport in slab subduction
  9. Raman scattering of omphacite at high pressure: Toward its possible application to elastic geothermobarometry
  10. Interpreting mineral deposit genesis classification with decision maps: A case study using pyrite trace elements
  11. Geochemical characteristics of mineral inclusions in the Luobusa chromitite (Southern Tibet): Implications for an intricate geological setting
  12. Three new iron-phosphate minerals from the El Ali iron meteorite, Somalia: Elaliite Fe82+ Fe3+(PO4)O8, elkinstantonite Fe4(PO4)2O, and olsenite KFe4(PO4)3
  13. Intervalence charge transfer in aluminum oxide and aluminosilicate minerals at elevated temperatures
  14. Electron probe microanalysis of trace sulfur in experimental basaltic glasses and silicate minerals
  15. New Mineral Names
  16. Book Review
  17. Book Review: Celebrating the International Year of Mineralogy: Progress and Landmark Discoveries of the Last Decades
Downloaded on 3.5.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am-2024-9331/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button