The Apatit Fission Track Dating Method
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Acknowledgements First and foremost, I have to sincerely thank my thesis-promotor prof. Dr. Johan De Grave for the creation of this thesis-subject, as well as guiding me through it. I am also deeply grateful to him for his willingness and persistence in reading and rereading my manuscript. The current manuscript would not have been possible without his feedback. I am also indebted to Elien De Pelsmaeker for her help and insights regarding the thesis-subject, as well as her encouragement. Her advice on a variety of topics has been of great help and was much appreciated. Special thanks goes out to prof. Dr. Paul De Paepe. Despite being extremely busy publishing a book, he found the time to provide me with the necessary help on the thin section analysis. I would also like to convey my gratitude towards the entire MINPET-group. In particular to prof. Dr. Johan De Grave and prof. Dr. Peter Van den haute for the use of the laboratories and its equipment, as well as giving the much needed explanation on its use. Moreover, I would like to thank everyone in this group for helping me with my (not always too bright) questions and concerns. Since this thesis would not have been possible without the field work prefomed by Dr. Stijn Glorie, prof. Dr. Johan De Grave, Dr. Tejpal Singh, Dr. Pitsanupong Kanjanapayont and prof. Dr. Punya Charusiri, I am deeply grateful to all for the use of these samples. Furthermore, I am indebted to Jan Jurceka for making the thin sections used in this thesis and for removing the weathered edges of the samples. I am also indebted to Ann-Eline Debeer for her assistance with the sample preparations. I would also like to express my gratitude towards prof. Dr. Peter Van den haute for funding the chemical analysis, prof. Dr. Eric Van Ranst for the use of the ICP-OES equipment and Nicole Vindevogel for performing the actual analysis. I would like to acknowledge the expertise and help of Bart van Houdt and Dr. Guido Vittiglio (from the Nuclear Systems Operation at SCK-CEN) during the irradiation of the samples. And least, but not least, I am grateful for the support of my family, friends and fellow students throughout my entire college career. I know it has not always been easy on them. Special thanks should be given to Clara Paesbrugge for her support and knowledge of Global Mapper. So, thank you all and happy reading! Table of Content Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: The apatite fission track dating method ....................................................................... 3 1.1: Fission tracks: definition, structure and origin ..................................................................... 3 1.2 FT revelation ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1 The principle of chemical etching ........................................................................................... 5 1.2.3: Etch efficiency and track densities......................................................................................... 7 1.2.4 Confined tracks ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.3: Principles of the fission track-dating method ....................................................................... 8 1.3.1 The fundamental and practical age equations ....................................................................... 8 1.3.2 The thermal neutron fluence ................................................................................................ 10 1.4. Dating procedures and techniques .................................................................................... 11 1.4.1 The External Detector (or ED) method ................................................................................. 11 1.5: The ζ-calibration method: a calibration with age standards ............................................... 12 1.5.1 Principles ............................................................................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Apatite age standards .......................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Geological interpretation of FT data ............................................................................15 2.1 Thermal stability of FT ....................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 First order approximation of annealing and Arrhenius diagrams .................................... 15 2.1.2 A more complex approach by incorporating the effects of chemical composition and crystallographic orientation .......................................................................................................... 17 2.1.2.1 The effects of the chemical composition of apatite ...................................................... 17 2.1.2.2 Crystallographic orientation and the c-axis projection model ...................................... 18 2.1.2.3 The Ketcham et al. (2007) model................................................................................... 18 2.2 Geological interpretation of FT ages .................................................................................. 20 2.2.1 The closure temperature and Partial Annealing Zone concepts ........................................... 20 2.2.1.1 The closure temperature concept .................................................................................. 20 2.2.1.2 The Apatite Partial Annealing Zone concept or APAZ ................................................... 21 2.2.1.3 t-T paths and the associated type of AFT-age ............................................................... 22 2.2.2 AFT-length as thermochronological tool: the reconstruction of t-T paths ........................... 24 2.2.3 Geological interpretation of AFT-data ................................................................................. 25 2.2.3.1 Cooling through denudation .......................................................................................... 26 2.2.3.2 Tectonic versus thermal model ...................................................................................... 27 2.2.3.3 The influence of topography .......................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3: The tectonic history of the Southern peninsular India ..................................................30 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 30 3.2 The crustal blocks in Peninsular India................................................................................. 32 3.2.1 The Salem Block .................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.2 The Madurai Block ................................................................................................................ 34 3.3 The final amalgamation of Gondwana ............................................................................... 35 3.3.1 The role of southern India in the amalgamation of Gondwana ........................................... 35 3.3.2 Terrane Assemby in Southern Peninsular India .................................................................... 37 3.4 The break-up of the Indian plate from Gondwana and its northward drift .......................... 39 3.4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 39 3.4.2 The separation of eastern Gondwana from western Gondwana ......................................... 39 3.4.3 The separation of India from Antarctica-Australia ............................................................... 40 3.4.4 The separation of Madagascar from India ........................................................................... 40 3.4.5 the separation of Seychelles-Laxmi ridge ............................................................................. 41 3.4.6 The separation of Seychelles from India ............................................................................... 41 3.5 The India-Asia collision ...................................................................................................... 41 3.6 (Tectonic) Far field effects of the India-Asia collision .......................................................... 44 Chapter 4: The tectonic and igneous history of Thailand ...............................................................46 4.1 The tectonic history of Thailand ......................................................................................... 46 4.1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 46 4.1.2 The tectonic evolution of the Sibumasu Block ...................................................................... 48 4.1.3 The tectonic evolution of the Ranong and Khlong Marui Faults .......................................... 53 4.1.3.1 Fault movement............................................................................................................. 53 4.1.3.2 Exhumation of the ductile shear zones .......................................................................... 56 4.2 The tectonic