| Professional Committee of Rock and Mineral Testing Technology of the Geological Society of China, National Geological Experiment and Testing Center | Host |
| Citation: |
LUO Tao, WANG Hanlin, ZHU Songbai, QING Liyuan, HU Zhaochu. Impacts of Common Lead on Apatite U-Pb Geochronology by LA-ICP-MS: Assessment and Correction Strategies[J]. Rock and Mineral Analysis, 2025, 44(1): 51-62. doi: 10.15898/j.ykcs.202404070079
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Impacts of Common Lead on Apatite U-Pb Geochronology by LA-ICP-MS: Assessment and Correction Strategies
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Abstract
Apatite is a widespread U-bearing mineral in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. U-Pb geochronology of apatite can provide significant information for constraining magmatic evolution processes and tracing provenance. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a crucial technique for in situ U-Pb age analysis of apatite. However, the lack of suitable matrix-matched apatite reference materials and the inevitable presence of common lead in reference materials are major obstacles restricting high-precision determination of apatite U-Pb ages. This study investigates the impact of common lead on LA-ICP-MS apatite U-Pb dating results. The significant systematic biases (6%−30%) in both measured lower intercept ages and initial lead compositions are observed when calibrating against MAD apatite without common lead correction. However, accurate apatite U-Pb ages (within 2% systematic bias) can be obtained by correcting for common lead in MAD using the 207Pb method or Tera-Wasserburg plot method prior to Pb/U fractionation calibration. Furthermore, a vapor-assisted laser ablation method is employed in conjunction with NIST612 glass as an external standard to accurately analyze apatite U-Pb ages. This non-matrix matched method eliminates the need to consider the influence of common lead in the reference materials. Novel high-precision LA-ICP-MS apatite U-Pb dating methods are established with both matrix-matched and non-matrix-matched analyses, which greatly promote the application of apatite U-Pb geochronology in Earth science. The BRIEF REPORT is available for this paper at
http://www.ykcs.ac.cn/en/article/doi/10.15898/j.ykcs.202404070079 . -
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References
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LUO Tao, WANG Hanlin, ZHU Songbai, QING Liyuan, HU Zhaochu. Impacts of Common Lead on Apatite U-Pb Geochronology by LA-ICP-MS: Assessment and Correction Strategies[J]. Rock and Mineral Analysis, 2025, 44(1): 51-62. doi: 10.15898/j.ykcs.202404070079
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Figure 1.
The precision of 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/206Pb ages varing with Pb signal intensity: (a) 206Pb/238U age; (b) 207Pb/206Pb age.
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Figure 2.
U-Pb ages results obtained by calibrating with apatite MAD as the external standard: (a) Apatite Otter Lake, without anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (b) Apatite Otter Lake, with anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (c) Apatite Durango, without anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (d) Apatite Durango, with anchored initial Pb isotopic composition.
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Figure 3.
U-Pb age results obtained after prior correction for common Pb in MAD with 207Pb method: (a) Apatite Otter Lake, without anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (b) Apatite Otter Lake, with anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (c) Apatite Durango, without anchored initial Pb isotopic composition; (d) Apatite Durango, with anchored initial Pb isotopic composition.
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Figure 4.
U-Pb ages of apatite obtained by Tera-Wasserburg concordia correction method: (a) MAD; (b) Otter Lake; (c) Durango.
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Figure 5.
U-Pb ages of apatite obtained by using NIST612 glass as the external standard: (a) MAD; (b) Otter Lake; (c) Durango.