Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1990 Fission Track Thermochronology: Methods and Applications in Tectonics. Steven Matthew onesJ Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Jones, Steven Matthew, "Fission Track Thermochronology: Methods and Applications in Tectonics." (1990). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5062. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5062 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORÎÆAHON TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microGlm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have be^n reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800.521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9128205 Fission track thermochronology: Methods and applications in tectonics Jones, Steven Matthew, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CoL, 1990 Copyright ©1991 by Jones, Steven Matthew. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Fission Track Thermochronology: Methods and Applications in Tectonics A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology and Geophysics by Steven M. Jones B. Sc., University of Nottingham, 1983 December 1990 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I'd like to thank my advisor, Roy Dokka, for the guidance and inspiration he has provided me with over the last few years. His support, both academic and financial, has been essential to the completion of this work, and I feel fortunate to have him as a friend, mentor and political foil for my leftist views. Darrell Henry, my minor advisor, introduced to me some of the mysteries of metamorphic petrology. His active interest in my work and his opinion are both things that I value greatly. Jeff Nunn and Dag Nummedal both opened new vistas for me as a graduate student at LSU. Jeff extended my understanding of the mechanical and thermal modeling of tectonic processes. No mean feat in itself. On a field trip to the Western USA, Dag demonstrated the application of sequence stratigraphy to real rocks, and showed that an esoteric concept could be rigorously applied - a thought that will stay with me. Chad McCabe helped me to keep things in perspective, with both good humor and enthusiasm. Many other faculty members, although not on my committee, made contributions to this work. I am especially grateful to Ajoy Baksi who generously shared his results, and patiently goaded me into trying to interpret them. Life at LSU was greatly enhanced by the presence of my fellow students, notably Dave Evans, who salvaged me from my numerical wreckage on more than one occasion and was always willing to talk for long periods about things that he and I thought were significant. The love, support and encouragement of my parents, Alan and Inez Jones, has been unfailing throughout my life, and this work is dedicated to them. My wife, Chris, continues to give me the love and encouragement that I need to get these things done. Finally, I would like to thank Ms. S. McKenzie and Mr. O. Shufflebotham for their assistance in drafting some of the figures. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Adoowtedgements Table of Contents List of Figures VII Ust of Tables Abstract Prologue: Quo Vado? Fission Track Thermochronology and Problems in Tectonics Uses of Fission Track Analysis.........................................................6 Fission Track Methods..........................................................................8 What are fission tracks?.........................................................8 Annealing ....................... ............................................................9 Derivation of the Age Equation ............................................. 11 Statistics................................................................................... 14 Qualitative Interpretation of Fission Track Data ............................. 16 The interpretation of fission track ages ...................................16 The relationship between fission track age and elevation ..........................................................20 Thermal History studies........................................................... 22 Comparisons with other Thermal Indicators..................... ................ 28 Comparison of fission tracks and vitrinite............................31 Thermal Regimes and Thermochronology ..................................... 33 Tectonic Thickening ................................................... 33 Tectonic Denudation .................................................................35 Thermal Anomalies ........................................................37 III Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Modeling Fission Track Annealing in Apatite 41 | Introduction...........................................................................................41 Models of Annealing in Apatite ......................................................... 42 What is Annealing?................................................................. 43 First Order Kinetic Description of Annealing........................44 Parallel Arrhenius Model ........................................................47 Fanning Arrhenius Model .......................................................47 Which equation should be used? .............................................51 Assessing the Models................................................................51 Application to Geological Situations........................................ 60 Basic Equations and Method............................................................ 63 Solution of the First order model ...........................................63 Solution of the Fanning or Parallel Arrhenius Models 63 Implementation of the Solution ..........................................................69 Program Versions...................................................................... 69 MacTrack........................................................................ 69 Vax Version ...................... 70 Discretizing the Thermal History .............................................. 73 Assumptions and Controls........................................................ 73 Interpretation of the solution ...................................................75 Sources of Error................................................................................... 77 Comparisons between the models ...................................................84 Summary. ............................................................................................... 86 3 Thermal Modeling of Tectonic Processes: Method and Example 87 Introduction...........................................................................................87 Equations and Methods..................................................................... 88 A One dimensional heat transfer model ..................................88 An example from the Western Alps - the Dora Maira Massif 90 An Outline of the Problem .......................................................90