Calibration of a Carboniferous U-Pb and Ar-Ar Standard

Abstract:

An important goal of the EARTHTIME initiative is to produce an accurate and precise sequence of geologic events, allowing the evaluation of the rates of geologic processes. Toward this end, the Ar-Ar and U-Pb communities require a set of standards that permit inter-laboratory and inter-technique comparisons. Natural zircon and sanidine samples that are extensively analyzed by multiple labs play a critical role for these comparisons, but are currently limited in number (Plesovice, R33, Temora 2 zircons; Fish Canyon, Alder Creek, Taylor Creek sanidine). Calibration between the sanidine Ar-Ar and zircon U-Pb is sparse and complexity in one or both of the systems is a general problem. Further, there is currently no Paleozoic sanidine monitor standard for Ar-Ar geochronology. The sanidine- and zircon-bearing Carboniferous Fire Clay tonstein provides potential natural Paleozoic standards for these two systems. The Fire Clay tonstein is a voluminous Carboniferous ash bed from the Appalachian basin. Exposures of the tonstein span over 300 km, making it a valuable marker bed for Appalachian geology. Here we report the results of 64 single-grain zircon U-Pb TIMS analyses and 223 single-grain sanidine Ar/Ar analyses. Although previous efforts have been plagued by xenocrystic zircons, by careful selection of only elongate crystals we were able to entirely avoid discordant analyses older than 316 Ma. Unfiltered analyses of zircons analyzed from a population of acicular crystals give a range of dates between ~315 and ~314 Ma with 2 sigma uncertainties of ~0.2 Ma. A weighted mean of these dates has an MSWD of ~4.0, suggesting geological complexity in the magma chamber or post-eruption lead loss. Sanidine ages have a range of less than 1 %, and only a single population can be distinguished with precision at the 1 Ma level for individual crystals. The ability to select crystals of both zircon and sanidine that give a narrow range of ages suggests that the Fire Clay tonstein holds promise as a Paleozoic Ar-Ar monitor standard. However, as U-Pb zircon data becomes more precise, we must grapple with the questions that data sets such as this one raises including how to interpret complex zircon populations from volcanic samples.