Thermochronology workshop Bogotá October 2010 Matthias Bernet

Exercise 1 - Closure temperature

Determine the closure temperature for different cooling rates given below for the apatite (U-Th)/He, zircon (U-
Th)/He and white mica Ar-Ar systems.

For c and D0/a2 use the values given in Table 1.

Table 1 (U-Th)/He (U-Th)/He Ar-Ar

Parameters apatite zircon muscovite
c 138.0 169.0 180.0 (kJ/mol)
D0 / a 2 7.64E+07 7.03E+05 3.91E+00 (s^-1)

dT/dt (°C Ma-1) : 0.01 Cooling rate

Tc initial (°C) : 100 Tc estimate

c 1.69E+05 J mol-1 activation energy Ea

D0 / a 2 = 7.03E+05 s -1
diffusion
A= 1 cylinder
R= 8.3 J mol-1 K-1 gas constant

dT/dt (K s-1) : 3.1689E-16

Tc initial (K) : 373

itération t Tc (K) Tc (°C)

1 2.1563E+16 3.99E+02 126
2 2.4633E+16 3.98E+02 125
3 2.4505E+16 3.98E+02 125
4 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
5 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
6 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
7 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
8 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
9 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125
10 2.451E+16 3.98E+02 125

Table 2 (U-Th)/He (U-Th)/He Ar-Ar

Cooling rate apatite zircon muscovite
(°C/Myr) Tc (°C) Tc (°C) Tc (°C)
0.01
0.1
0.5
1
10
100

Exercise 2
Use the data in Table 2 to make a plot that shows the closure temperature of the three different
thermochronologic systems in relation to cooling rate.

Taken from your plot, what is your estimate of the closure temperature of the three different systems for a
common orogenic cooling rate of 15°C/m.y.?
Thermochronology workshop Bogotá October 2010 Matthias Bernet

Sample System Age (Ma) 2SE Depth (km)

1 ZHe 47.4 0.5 0.0
2 ZHe 47.6 0.6 1.0
3 ZHe 47.1 0.4 1.5
4 ZHe 47.0 0.5 2.0
5 ZHe 45.0 0.3 2.5
6 ZHe 37.0 0.3 3.0
7 ZHe 28.4 0.2 3.5
8 ZHe 23.0 0.2 4.0
9 ZHe 22.0 0.1 4.5
10 ZHe 20.5 0.2 5.0
11 ZHe 20.5 0.1 5.5
12 ZHe 20.3 0.1 6.0

Exercise 3

The table above provides a range of samples collected from

different crustal depths.
a) Plot the ages against depth.
b) How do you explain the data trend?