J. Petersson et al., Ion microprobe U-Pb dating of hydrothermal xenotime from an episyenite: evidence for rift-related reactivation, CHEM GEOL, 175(3-4), 2001, pp. 703-712
Hydrothermally intergrown xenotime-monazite from an episyenite in the Bohus
granite, southwest Sweden, has been analyzed in situ by ion microprobe. Al
though the analysed xenotime crystals are extremely small, sometimes less t
han the ion beam diameter (similar to 17 mum), they retain relatively undis
turbed U-Pb systems, which yielded a Pb-206/U-238 age of 252 +/- 8 Ma. The
evolution of this episyenite involved an initial stage of quartz dissolutio
n accompanied by albitization, followed by a second stage of vug-infilling
and replacement of igneous Fe-Ti phases. The obtained age shows that the se
cond alteration stage, during which xenotime was precipitated, was coeval w
ith the thermal anomaly associated with Permo-Carboniferous crustal thinnin
g and the development of the nearby Oslo Rift. Moreover, the development of
the permeable episyenite structure must be ascribed to a preceding high-te
mperature event, most likely the post-magmatic cooling of the host granite
at 920 Ma. This study shows that U-Pb dating of young xenotimes may address
geochronological problems, though further work is required to characterize
possible matrix effects which presently limit the accuracy of the method.
(C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.