In situ Rb-Sr dating of slickenfibres in deep crystalline basement faults

Revisiting Glauconite Geochronology: Lessons Learned from In Situ Radiometric Dating of a Glauconite-Rich Cretaceous Shelfal Sequence

The scarcity of well-preserved and directly dateable sedimentary sequences is a major impediment to inferring the Earth’s paleo-environmental evolution. The authigenic mineral glauconite can potentially provide absolute stratigraphic ages for sedimentary sequences and constraints on paleo-depositional conditions. This requires improved approaches for measuring and interpreting glauconite formation ages. Here, glauconite from a Cretaceous shelfal sequence (Langenstein, northern Germany) was characterized using petrographical, geochemical (EMP), andmineralogical (XRD) screening methods before in situ Rb-Sr dating via LA-ICP-MS/MS. The obtained glauconite ages (~101 to 97 Ma) partly overlap with the depositional age of the Langenstein sequence (±3 Ma), but without the expected stratigraphic age progression, which we attribute to detrital and diagenetic illitic phase impurities inside the glauconites. Using a novel age deconvolution approach, which combines the new Rb-Sr dataset with published K-Ar ages, we recalculate the glauconite bulk ages to obtain stratigraphically significant ‘pure’ glauconite ages (~100 to 96 Ma). Thus, our results show that pristine ages can be preserved in mineralogically complex glauconite grains even under burial diagenetic conditions (T < 65 °C; <1500 m depth), confirming that glauconite could be a suitable archive for paleo-environmental reconstructions and direct sediment dating.

Thermochronologic perspectives on the deep-time evolution of the deep biosphere

The Earth's deep biosphere hosts some of its most ancient chemolithotrophic lineages. The history of habitation in this environment is thus of interest for understanding the origin and evolution of life. The oldest rocks on Earth, formed about 4 billion years ago, are in continental cratons that have experienced complex histories due to burial and exhumation. Isolated fracture-hosted fluids in these cratons may have residence times older than a billion years, but understanding the history of their microbial communities requires assessing the evolution of habitable conditions. Here, we present a thermochronological perspective on the habitability of Precambrian cratons through time. We show that rocks now in the upper few kilometers of cratons have been uninhabitable (>∼122 °C) for most of their lifetime or have experienced high-temperature episodes, such that the longest record of habitability does not stretch much beyond a billion years. In several cratons, habitable conditions date back only 50 to 300 million years, in agreement with dated biosignatures. The thermochronologic approach outlined here provides context for prospecting and interpreting the little-explored geologic record of the deep biosphere of Earth's cratons, when and where microbial communities may have thrived, and candidate areas for the oldest records of chemolithotrophic microbes.

A high throughput Rb-Sr dating method using solution tandem ICP-MS/MS (87Sr/86Sr) and standard addition calibration ICP-MS (Rb/Sr)

Routine generation of large Rb-Sr age datasets has been limited by the time-consuming requirement of chromatographic isolation of Sr from Rb to avoid the isobaric interference of ⁸⁷Rb⁺ on ⁸⁷Sr⁺. Recently, direct measurement of interference-free ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr has become possible with the advent of tandem quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS). Here, we describe a method that uses ICP-MS/MS to measure ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr combined with a standard addition calibration for precise determination of Rb/Sr, allowing efficient generation of Rb-Sr ages. The method is demonstrated on a suite of ~50 to 90 Myrs (million years) old celadonite samples that are dated with age uncertainties typically of ±2 to 5 Myrs provided the sample Rb/Sr is >2. A method to separate the phyllosilicate fraction from the bulk sample, because it commonly has a higher Rb/Sr more suitable for dating, using differential settling is also described.•Differential settling allows high Rb/Sr phyllosilicates to be separated from other phases•ICP-MS/MS allows ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr measurement without chromatographic isolation of Sr⁺ from Rb⁺•Single-spike standard addition ICP-MS was used for Rb/Sr measurement.

Project Vienna: A Novel Precell Mass Filter for Collision/Reaction Cell MC-ICPMS/MS

The last decade has seen widespread adoption of triple quadrupole-based inductively coupled plasma-tandem mass spectrometry (ICPMS/MS) technique using a collision/reaction cell in combination with a precell bandpass mass analyzer to measure isotopes otherwise masked by spectral interferences. High-precision isotope ratio analysis containing such isotopes would benefit from a similar capability on a multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) platform, but using a quadrupole-based precell mass analyzer for MC-ICPMS/MS has several limitations. To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel precell mass analyzer for MC-ICPMS/MS using sector field technology. The new precell mass analyzer, comprising two Wien filters and a selection aperture, and a hexapole collision/reaction cell were integrated together in a single module and added to the commercially available Thermo Scientific Neptune XT MC-ICPMS to create a prototype MC-ICPMS/MS we named Vienna. Vienna was proven to retain the same performance of the base MC-ICPMS in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. Using the Vienna mass filter to eliminate Ar-based species, the abundance sensitivity achievable was equivalent to TIMS at mass 237.05, which was used to accurately determine the low ²³⁶U/²³⁸U isotope ratio of the uranium reference material IRMM184 (certified value, 1.2446 × 10^-7). The performance of Vienna was then tested for a variety of geoscience applications that were expected to benefit from MC-ICPMS/MS technique, including Ca, K, Si, and in situ Rb/Sr dating by laser ablation.

In situ Rb-Sr dating by collision cell, multicollection inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry with pre-cell mass-filter, (CC-MC-ICPMS/MS)

We document the utility for in situ Rb-Sr dating of a one-of-a-kind tribrid mass spectrometer, 'Proteus', coupled to a UV laser ablation system. Proteus combines quadrupole mass-filter, collision cell and sector magnet with a multicollection inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (CC-MC-ICPMS/MS). Compared to commercial, single collector, tribrid inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometers (CC-ICPMS/MS) Proteus has enhanced ion transmission and offers simultaneous collection of all Sr isotopes using an array of Faraday cups. These features yield improved precision in measured ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, for a given mass of Sr analysed, approximately a factor of 25 in comparison to the Thermo Scientific™ iCAP TQ™ operated under similar conditions. Using SF₆ as a reaction gas on Proteus, measurements of Rb-doped NIST SRM (standard reference material) 987 solutions, with Rb/Sr ratios from 0.01-100, yield ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr that are indistinguishable from un-doped NIST SRM 987, demonstrating quantitative 'chemical resolution' of Rb from Sr. We highlight the importance of mass-filtering before the collision cell for laser ablation ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr analysis, using an in-house feldspar standard and a range of glass reference materials. By transmitting only those ions with mass-to-charge ratios 82-92 u/e into the collision cell, we achieve accurate ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr measurements without any corrections for atomic or polyatomic isobaric interferences. Without the pre-cell mass-filtering, measured in situ ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are inaccurate. Combining in situ measurements of Rb/Sr and radiogenic Sr isotope ratios we obtain mineral isochrons. We utilise a sample from the well-dated Dartmoor granite (285 ± 1 Ma) as a calibrant for our in situ ages and, using the same conditions, produce accurate Rb-Sr isochron ages for samples of the Fish Canyon tuff (28 ± 2 Ma) and Shap granite pluton (397 ± 1 Ma). Analysing the same Dartmoor granite sample using identical laser conditions and number of spot analyses using the Thermo Scientific™ iCAP TQ™ yielded an isochron slope 5× less precise than Proteus. We use an uncertainty model to illustrate the advantage of using Proteus over single collector CC-ICPMS/MS for in situ Rb-Sr dating. The results of this model show that the improvement is most marked for samples that have low Rb/Sr (<10) or are young (<100 Ma). We also report the first example of an in situ, internal Rb-Sr isochron from a single potassium-feldspar grain. Using a sample from the Shap granite, we obtained accurate age and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr with 95% confidence intervals of ±1.5% and ±0.03% respectively. Such capabilities offer new opportunities in geochronological studies.