Ion Tracks In Apatite And Quartz

This book pioneers a novel approach to investigate the effects of pressure on fission tracks, a geological problem that has remained unsolved for 60 years. While conventional techniques to study fission tracks were limited in precision, this book overcomes such issues by using state-of-the-art synchrotron-based x-ray scattering; a technique initially developed for applications in material science and biomedical research. The book provides an overview of the theory and application of small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) on cylindrical ion tracks, including in-situ SAXS on ion tracks with simultaneous increases in temperature and pressure. As such it demonstrates a degree of characterisation normally not achievable with in-situ techniques. Further, it compares SAXS with small angle neutron scattering (SANS). This book has led to a range of publications and attracted the interest of the geological and material science communities. Daniel Schauries has been awarded several prizes for this research, including the Graduate Student Award of the Materials Research Society.

This book pioneers a novel approach to investigate the effects of pressure on fission tracks, a geological problem that has remained unsolved for 60 years. While conventional techniques to study fission tracks were limited in precision, this book overcomes such issues by using state-of-the-art synchrotron-based x-ray scattering; a technique initially developed for applications in material science and biomedical research. The book provides an overview of the theory and application of small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) on cylindrical ion tracks, including in-situ SAXS on ion tracks with simultaneous increases in temperature and pressure. As such it demonstrates a degree of characterisation normally not achievable with in-situ techniques. Further, it compares SAXS with small angle neutron scattering (SANS). This book has led to a range of publications and attracted the interest of the geological and material science communities. Daniel Schauries has been awarded several prizes for this research, including the Graduate Student Award of the Materials Research Society.

This book is focused on the basics of applying thermochronology to geological and tectonic problems, with the emphasis on fission-track thermochronology. It is conceived for relatively new practitioners to thermochronology, as well as scientists experienced in the various methods. The book is structured in two parts. Part I is devoted to the fundamentals of the fission-track method, to its integration with other geochronologic methods, and to the basic principles of statistics for fission-track dating and sedimentology applied to detrital thermochronology. Part I also includes the historical development of the technique and thoughts on future directions. Part II is devoted to the geological interpretation of the thermochronologic record. The thermal frame of reference and the different approaches for the interpretation of fission-track data within a geological framework of both basement and detrital studies are discussed in detail. Separate chapters demonstrate the application of fission-track thermochronology from various perspectives (e.g., tectonics, petrology, stratigraphy, hydrocarbon exploration, geomorphology), with other chapters on the application to basement rocks in orogens, passive continental margins and cratonic interiors, as well as various applications of detrital thermochronology.

Volume 58 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry presents 22 chapters covering many of the important modern aspects of thermochronology. The coverage of the chapters ranges widely, including historical perspective, analytical techniques, kinetics and calibrations, modeling approaches, and interpretational methods. In general, the chapters focus on intermediate- to low-temperature thermochronometry, though some chapters cover higher temperature methods such as monazite U/Pb closure profiles, and the same theory and approaches used in low-temperature thermochronometry are generally applicable to higher temperature systems. The widely used low- to medium-temperature thermochronometric systems are reviewed in detail in these chapters, but while there are numerous chapters reviewing various aspects of the apatite (U-Th)/He system, there is no chapter singularly devoted to it, partly because of several previous reviews recently published on this topic.

Statistical analyses of the numbers, lengths, and orientations of fission tracks etched in minerals yield dating and thermal history information valuable in geological and geoscience applications, particularly in oil exploration. Fission tracks can be represented mathematically by a stochastic process of randomly oriented line segments in three dim