Radioactive and Stable Isotope Geology

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Radioactive and Stable Isotope Geology

H.-G. Attendorn Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Museum of the Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster, Germany

and

R. N. C. Bowen formerly of the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Museum of the Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster, Germany

la 111 SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V

First edition 1997

© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 si edition 1997

Typeset in 10/12 Palatino by Thomson Press (India) Ud, Chennai

ISBN 978-94-010-6467-5 ISBN 978-94-011-5840-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-5840-4

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries conceming reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page.

The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-85529

I§ Printed on permanent acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 and ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1984 (Permanence of Paper).

Contents

Preface xi

Chronostratigraphic scale xv

Periodic Table of the elements xvii

Chart of the nuclides xviii

Part One General introduction

1 Introduction 3 1.1 Mass spectrometry 6

1.1.1 Historical background 6 1.1.2 A moving charged particle in a magnetic field 8

1.2 Isotope effects and fractionation processes 10 1.2.1 Energy states of a molecule 11 1.2.2 Isotope separation in the laboratory 15

1.3 Spectroscopic methods 17 1.4 Isotope fractionation 19

1.4.1 Exchange reactions and kinetic fractionation 20 1.4.2 Biological fractionation 26

1.5 Secondary changes of isotope ratios 28

2 Nuc1eosynthesis: Fons et origo of the chemical elements in the universe and on Earth 30

VI Contents

3 Mass spectrometry 56 3.1 Modern mass spectrometers 56

3.1.1 Gas isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GIRMS) 56 3.1.2 External options for GIRMS system configurations 61 3.1.3 Preparation of samples for the GIRMS 62 3.1.4 Other mass spectrometers 72

Part Two Unstable (radioactive) isotope dating 4 Uranium-thorium-Iead dating 85

4.1 Geochemistry 85 4.2 Methodology 100

4.2.1 Theory: concordia and discordia, isochrons, common, anomalous and multistage leads 100

4.3 Applications 116

5 Uranium series disequilibrium dating 131 5.1 Ionium dating of deep-sea sediments 132 5.2 234U _238U geochronometer 136 5.3 23%_238U and 230'J'h_234U dating 138 5.4 Assessing 23O'J'h/U ages in impure carbonates 141 5.5 230Th_231Pa dating 142 5.6 210Pb dating 144 5.7 Actinide-series disequilibrium used to determine

chronology of deep-sea hydrothermal activity 151

6 Uranium-xenon and uranium-krypton dating 154 6.1 Theory 154 6.2 Fissiogenic rare gases in the atmosphere 158

7 Rubidium-strontium dating 159 7.1 Geochemistry 159 7.2 Methodology 161

7.2.1 Theory 161 7.2.2 Isochrons and fictitious isochrons 163

7.3 Applications 173 7.3.1 Sphalerite dating and genesis of MVT ores 173 7.3.2 Rb-Sr data of a volcanoplutonic complex

(Late Hercynian), Italy 176 7.3.3 Age of the Hercynian orogeny by Rb-Sr dating 178 7.3.4 Disturbance of Rb-Sr system in Schwarzwald

(Variscan) granites 178 7.3.5 Magmatic and hydrothermal REE fractionation

in Chinese granites 180 7.3.6 Strontium through time 181

Contents VII

8 Potassium-argon and argon-argon dating 192 K-Ar dating 8.1 Geochemistry 192 8.2 Methodology 194

8.2.1 Theory 194 8.2.2 Argon loss 196 8.2.3 Isochrons 199 8.2.4 Sedimentary rocks and minerals 201 8.2.5 Argon from the mantle 202 8.2.6 Blocking temperature and the metamorphic veil 203 8.2.7 Geomagnetic polarity reversals 205

8.3 Application: diamonds 205 40 Ar_39 Ar Dating 206 8.4 Geochemistry 206 8.5 Methodology 210

8.5.1 Thermochronological data through incremental Heating 210

8.5.2 Argon release by lasers 216 8.6 Applications 224

8.6.1 The Jaramillo normal subchron and the matayuma-Brunhes geomagnetic boundary 224

8.6.2 A Burgidalian (Miocene I) age for extensional ductile tectonics in the Edough Massif, Kabylies, Algeria, from 40 Ar / 39 Ar data 230

8.6.3 Preliminary 40 Ar / 39 Ar age spectrum and laser probe dating of the MI core of the manson impact structure - a K-T boundary crater candidate 230

8.6.4 40 Ar / 39 Ar fusion ages from the Polish sudetes 233 8.6.5 Using the 40 Ar / 39 Ar method to date mylonitic

deformation 234 8.6.6 Meteorites 235 8.6.7 40 Ar / 39 Ar isotope study of lunar meteorite

Asuka 881757 240 8.6.8 Diamonds 241

9 Carbon-14 dating 244 9.1 Background 244 9.2 Discovery 245 9.3 Production of 14C and its uses in dating 246 9.4 Carbonate samples 262 9.5 Isotope fractionation 264 9.6 Analytical methods 266

Vlll Contents

10 Tritium dating 10.1 Background 10.2 Tritium dating

11 Other methods 11.1 137CS/135CS as a chronometer tracer

11.1.1 Geochemistry 11.1.2 Application

11.2 I-Xe dating 11.3 La-Ce dating

11.3.1 Geochemistry 11.3.2 Theory 11.3.3 Constraints on the 138La p-decay half-life

11.4 Lu-Hf dating 11.4.1 Geochemistry 11.4.2 Assessment of ages 11.4.3 Hafnium in Earth history

11.5 53Mn dating 11.6 59Ni dating 11.7 Po-Pb dating

11.7.1 Geochemistry 11.7.2 Methodology

11.8 K-Ca dating 11.8.1 Calcium isotope fractionation 11.8.2 K -Ca dating approach 11.8.3 K-Ca chronology of lunar granites

11.9 Re-Os dating 11. 9.1 Geochemistry 11.9.2 Assessment of ages 11.9.3 Osmium through Earth history 11.9.4 Common Os dating 11.9.5 Osmium isotope analyses using a Finnigan

MAT 262 11.10 'Os-Os' e870s/ 1860S and 1870S/ 1880S) Methods

of dating 11.11 Sm-Nd dating

11.11.1 Geochemistry 11.11.2 Assessment of ages 11.11.3 Neodymium through Earth history

12 Radiation damage dating methods 12.1 Electron Spin resonance 12.2 Fission track dating 12.3 Pleochroic haloes 12.4 Thermoluminescence

12.4.1 Induced thermoluminescence technique

268 268 269

272 272 272 272 273 273 273 274 274 274 275 277 278 285 285 285 285 286 288 289 291 292 293 294 295 296 298

299

301 303 303 305 307

319 319 324 339 340 345

Contents

13 Cosmogenic radionuclides 13.1 Dating with cosmogenic radionuclides 13.2 8lKr dating

13.2.1 Geochemistry 13.2.2 8lKr terrestrial ages of eucrites

Part Three Stable isotopes in the biosphere

IX

347 356 361 361 361

14 Relevant stable isotopes in nature 367 14.1 Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes 369 14.2 Nitrogen isotopes 371

14.2.1 Nitrogen in natural waters 373 14.3 Carbon isotopes 375

14.3.1 Biospheric C isotopes 378 14.3.2 Atmospheric C 378 14.3.3 Marine C 382 14.3.4 Freshwater and terrestrial C 383

14.4 Sulphur isotopes 385 14.5 Strontium isotopes 389 14.6 Chlorine isotopes 392 14.7 Silicon isotopes 394 14.8 Isotopes of noble gases 394

15 Isotopes in palaeoclimatology and palaeoecology 397 15.1 Marine isotope palaeothermometry 397 15.2 Isotopic composition of sea water 399 15.3 Relevant 180-determining parameters 401 15.4 Palaeotemperature det,erminations 403 15.5 Foraminifera 406 15.6 Bivalves 410 15.7 Other taxa 415

16 Other applications of biospheric carbon and oxygen 419 16.1 Carbon isotopes in organic matter 419

16.1.1 Isotopes in fossil fuel 422 16.2 Isotopes in terrestrial plants 423 16.3 Isotopes and diet 427 16.4 Isotopes as Stratigraphic Tools and Event Markers 432

Part Four Isotopes in the lithosphere 17 Extraterrestrial matter

17.1 Isotopes in meteorites and lunar rocks 17.1.1 Impact and tektites 17.1.2 Exposure ages of meteorites

443 444 448 449

x Contents

18 Isotopes in rocks and minerals 18.1 Isotopes in rock/mineral-water systems 18.2 Magmatic rocks 18.3 Sedimentary rocks 18.4 Metamorphic rocks 18.5 Ore deposits

19 Isotope geothermometers

References

Index

Author Index

452 452 454 460 465 465

471

479

509

515

Preface

Isotopic (nuclear) geology constitutes an exact, quantitative branch of the Earth sciences which has expanded rapidly to cover a wide spectrum of applications since the establishment of its basic principles by the early 1950s, in part following seminal researches by H. C. Urey, H. A. Lowenstam, S. Epstein, T. Mayeda and numerous others. This immense progress, accelerating in recent years, led to the application of isotopes in attempting to resolve a variety of geochemical and geological problems in the Earth sciences. Lunar exploration too provided rocks for analysis and their exami­nation stimulated refinements in mass spectrometry later used for terres­trial materials as well. New geochronometric methods were devised and include those based on the radioactive decay of 147Sm to 143Nd, 176Lu to 176Hf, 187Re to 1870S and 4°K to 40C a, as well as others depending upon the production and distribution of cosmogenic radionuclides such as 26 AI, lOBe and 36Cl.

The impact of all these developments has been tremendous and shed light on such diverse topics as the origin of igneous rocks, where the isotopic compositions of neodymium, strontium, lead and hafnium sug­gest that magmas from the Earth's mantle are often crustally con­taminated. The isotopic compositions of carbon, oxygen and sulphur have proved important in elucidating aspects of petrogenesis. The study of environmental isotopes such as tritium and radiocarbon has been invalu­able, not only as regards revealing the climates of the past using palaeotemperature analyses, but also in understanding the ice volume effect, the stratigraphy of ice and snow and the dating of sediments and volcanics, together with the isotopic composition of sea water, both now and through Earth history. Isotopic analyses of the 180 composition of foraminifera from Caribbean sea-bottom cores formed the basis for C.

xii Preface

Emiliani's 16 isotopic stages originally believed to reflect warmer (odd­numbered) and cooler (even-numbered) time intervals, later shown by W. Dansgaard, N. J. Shackleton, N. D. Opdyke and others to reflect seawater isotopic changes resulting from the growth and decay of continental ice sheets. The relationship between the isotope record and global ice volume was utilized as a stratigraphic tool by members of CLIMAP (Climate Long Range Investigation and Mapping) examining deep-ocean cores and asso­ciated isotopic data. Indeed, quantitative techniques have been used in isotopic chronostratigraphy, firstly by D. F. Williams and D. Trainor as an innovative approach to locating hydrocarbon source rocks and their oil and gas reservoirs in deep-water tracts. An appropriate schema was later presented by T. E. McKenna and others who treated every isotopic record as a time series and used common analyses to develop criteria for ident­ifying common events in records. The method has been shown to be useful, although it would be improved if more was known about the palaeoevolutionary behaviour of foraminifera. Another factor requiring further scrutinay relates to vital effects resulting from disequilibrium fractionation revealed by oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses of living benthic foraminifera such as Heterostegina depressa, a phenomenon thought to be species specific and one found in all Recent species of planktonic foraminifera, which are in isotopic disequilibrium with respect to l3C values in equilibrium calcite. Such vital effects could have a considerable bearing on palaeotemperature measurements, but the present state of play is indicated by W. S. Broecker's remark that this possible physiological control on the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of the skeletons of some marine organisms is not understood (although differences in frac­tionation factors between different species of foraminifera attest to its existence). At present the authors are actively investigating the matter and some preliminary results have already been published.

The preceding, necessarily brief, discussion illustrates both the aca­demic interest of researches into isotopes in the Earth together with the actual and potential practical applications of data so obtained. This book is intended to update its predecessor and considers significant researches from 1988 to its date of completion, relevant information being included, albeit sometimes in abbreviated form. Whereas in earlier times, it was feasible to discuss unclassified reports as well, the vast increase in research (unfortunately most of it in excessive detail contributing little or nothing to the advancement of understanding) has made this impossible, hence the authors have attempted to provide basic information useful to both specialists and non-specialists in the field of isotope geology, occasionally adding their own, clearly identified, comments. Those needing more information should consult the literature. The bibliography in this book relates mainly to the post-1988 period, except for some classic publications. Constraints of space have kept figures to a minimum, but those which

Preface Xlll

were deemed indispensible appear in suitable parts of the text. The structure of the book is essentially in two parts, the first dealing with radiometric dating and the second mostly with stable isotope geology.

Finally, on a matter of style, the authors would have preferred names of elements to be given in full thoughout the text (except in equations) rather than only occasionally which was the publishers' choice.

R. N. C. BOWEN January 1997

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