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Letter: High-precision oxygen isotope analysis of picogram samples reveals 2 μm gradients and slow diffusion in zircon

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Published/Copyright: April 1, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 92 Issue 10

Abstract

Ion microprobe analysis with a sub-micrometer diameter spot reveals a sharp, 2 μm gradient in oxygen isotope ratio proving that oxygen diffusion in zircon is slow even under prolonged high-grade metamorphism. The data are consistent with an oxygen diffusion coefficient of 10-23.5±1 cm2/s. Furthermore, this gradient is found in a zircon that contains clear textural evidence of recrystallization in nearby regions. This finding shows that through careful textural and chemical analysis, primary information can be extracted from a zircon that has also undergone partial recrystallization. The oxygen isotope ratios found in zircon have been used to infer magmatic and pre-magmatic histories, including the presence of liquid water on the surface of earliest Earth. Recently, these interpretations have been questioned with the assertion that zircon may not retain its primary oxygen isotope signature through metamorphism. The slow diffusion confirmed by these results supports interpretations that assume preservation of magmatic compositions.

Keywords: Ion microprobe; SIMS; zircon; diffusion; oxygen isotopes; stable isotopes; granulites facies; migmatites
Received: 2007-5-16
Accepted: 2007-6-14
Published Online: 2015-4-1
Published in Print: 2007-10-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Ferric iron in Al-bearing akimotoite coexisting with iron-nickel metal in a shock-melt vein in an L-6 chondrite
  2. Solidification and microstructures of binary ice-I/hydrate eutectic aggregates
  3. A monazite oxygen isotope thermometer
  4. The albite fusion curve re-examined: New experiments and the high-pressure density and compressibility of high albite and NaAlSi3O8 liquid
  5. XRD and HRTEM analyses of stacking structures in sudoite, di-trioctahedral chlorite
  6. Vibrational dynamics in H+-substituted forsterite: A first-principles molecular dynamics study
  7. Fluorophlogopite from Biancavilla (Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy): Crystal structure and crystal chemistry of a new F-dominant analog of phlogopite
  8. Pressure-induced over-hydration of thomsonite: A synchrotron powder diffraction study
  9. High-pressure optical spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies on synthetic cobalt aluminum silicate garnet
  10. In situ observation of the decomposition of kyanite at high pressures and high temperatures
  11. Mineralogy and crystal structure of bouazzerite from Bou Azzer, Anti-Atlas, Morocco: Bi-As-Fe nanoclusters containing Fe3+ in trigonal prismatic coordination
  12. Single-crystal structure refinement of diaspore at 50 GPa
  13. FTIR spectroscopy of Ti-rich pargasites from Lherz and the detection of O2- at the anionic O3 site in amphiboles
  14. The relative stability of monazite and huttonite at 300 - 900 °C and 200 - 1000 MPa: Metasomatism and the propagation of metastable mineral phases
  15. Acoustic dissipation associated with phase transitions in lawsonite, CaAl2Si2O7(OH)2·H2O
  16. Magnetic anisotropy of carbonate minerals at room temperature and 77 K
  17. Non-ideality and defectivity of the åkermanite-gehlenite solid solution: An X-ray diffraction and TEM study
  18. The system Al2O3-P2O5-H2O at temperatures below 200 °C: Experimental data on the stability of variscite and metavariscite AlPO4·2H2O
  19. Low-pressure decomposition of chrysotile as a function of time and temperature
  20. Ion exchange equilibrium and structural changes in clinoptilolite irradiated with β- and γ-radiation: Monovalent cations
  21. Investigation of dioctahedral smectite hydration properties by modeling of X-ray diffraction profiles: Influence of layer charge and charge location
  22. Growth of large (1 mm) MgSiO3 perovskite single crystals: A thermal gradient method at ultrahigh pressure
  23. Carbon is not required during crystallization to produce ferrobasalts/ferrodiorites (FTP rocks)
  24. Letter: Meridianiite: A new mineral species observed on Earth and predicted to exist on Mars
  25. Letter: Equations of state of CaIrO3 perovskite and post-perovskite phases
  26. Letter: Hydrogen-carbonate ion in synthetic high-pressure apatite
  27. Letter: Effects of irradiation damage on the back-scattering of electrons: Silicon-implanted silicon
  28. Letter: High-precision oxygen isotope analysis of picogram samples reveals 2 μm gradients and slow diffusion in zircon
https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2007.2697
Keywords for this article
Ion microprobe; SIMS; zircon; diffusion; oxygen isotopes; stable isotopes; granulites facies; migmatites

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Ferric iron in Al-bearing akimotoite coexisting with iron-nickel metal in a shock-melt vein in an L-6 chondrite
  2. Solidification and microstructures of binary ice-I/hydrate eutectic aggregates
  3. A monazite oxygen isotope thermometer
  4. The albite fusion curve re-examined: New experiments and the high-pressure density and compressibility of high albite and NaAlSi3O8 liquid
  5. XRD and HRTEM analyses of stacking structures in sudoite, di-trioctahedral chlorite
  6. Vibrational dynamics in H+-substituted forsterite: A first-principles molecular dynamics study
  7. Fluorophlogopite from Biancavilla (Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy): Crystal structure and crystal chemistry of a new F-dominant analog of phlogopite
  8. Pressure-induced over-hydration of thomsonite: A synchrotron powder diffraction study
  9. High-pressure optical spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies on synthetic cobalt aluminum silicate garnet
  10. In situ observation of the decomposition of kyanite at high pressures and high temperatures
  11. Mineralogy and crystal structure of bouazzerite from Bou Azzer, Anti-Atlas, Morocco: Bi-As-Fe nanoclusters containing Fe3+ in trigonal prismatic coordination
  12. Single-crystal structure refinement of diaspore at 50 GPa
  13. FTIR spectroscopy of Ti-rich pargasites from Lherz and the detection of O2- at the anionic O3 site in amphiboles
  14. The relative stability of monazite and huttonite at 300 - 900 °C and 200 - 1000 MPa: Metasomatism and the propagation of metastable mineral phases
  15. Acoustic dissipation associated with phase transitions in lawsonite, CaAl2Si2O7(OH)2·H2O
  16. Magnetic anisotropy of carbonate minerals at room temperature and 77 K
  17. Non-ideality and defectivity of the åkermanite-gehlenite solid solution: An X-ray diffraction and TEM study
  18. The system Al2O3-P2O5-H2O at temperatures below 200 °C: Experimental data on the stability of variscite and metavariscite AlPO4·2H2O
  19. Low-pressure decomposition of chrysotile as a function of time and temperature
  20. Ion exchange equilibrium and structural changes in clinoptilolite irradiated with β- and γ-radiation: Monovalent cations
  21. Investigation of dioctahedral smectite hydration properties by modeling of X-ray diffraction profiles: Influence of layer charge and charge location
  22. Growth of large (1 mm) MgSiO3 perovskite single crystals: A thermal gradient method at ultrahigh pressure
  23. Carbon is not required during crystallization to produce ferrobasalts/ferrodiorites (FTP rocks)
  24. Letter: Meridianiite: A new mineral species observed on Earth and predicted to exist on Mars
  25. Letter: Equations of state of CaIrO3 perovskite and post-perovskite phases
  26. Letter: Hydrogen-carbonate ion in synthetic high-pressure apatite
  27. Letter: Effects of irradiation damage on the back-scattering of electrons: Silicon-implanted silicon
  28. Letter: High-precision oxygen isotope analysis of picogram samples reveals 2 μm gradients and slow diffusion in zircon
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