Low-temperature thermal history and landscape development of the eastern Adirondack Mountains, New York: Constraints from apatite fission-track thermochronology and apatite (U-Th)/He dating

2010 ◽  
Vol 123 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 412-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Taylor ◽  
P. G. Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Adirondack Mountains ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Landscape Development ◽  
Fission Track Thermochronology

Resolving thermal histories via multi-kinetic apatite fission track data: A case study from Phanerozoic strata within the Peel Plateau NWT, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Spalding ◽  
Jeremy Powell ◽  
David Schneider ◽  
Karen Fallas
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Thermal Histories ◽  
Peel Plateau

<p>Resolving the thermal history of sedimentary basins through geological time is essential when evaluating the maturity of source rocks within petroleum systems. Traditional methods used to estimate maximum burial temperatures in prospective sedimentary basin such as and vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) are unable to constrain the timing and duration of thermal events. In comparison, low-temperature thermochronology methods, such as apatite fission track thermochronology (AFT), can resolve detailed thermal histories within a temperature range corresponding to oil and gas generation. In the Peel Plateau of the Northwest Territories, Canada, Phanerozoic sedimentary strata exhibit oil-stained outcrops, gas seeps, and bitumen occurrences. Presently, the timing of hydrocarbon maturation events are poorly constrained, as a regional unconformity at the base of Cretaceous foreland basin strata indicates that underlying Devonian source rocks may have undergone a burial and unroofing event prior to the Cretaceous. Published organic thermal maturity values from wells within the study area range from 1.59 and 2.46 %Ro for Devonian strata and 0.54 and 1.83 %Ro within Lower Cretaceous strata. Herein, we have resolved the thermal history of the Peel Plateau through multi-kinetic AFT thermochronology. Three samples from Upper Devonian, Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous strata have pooled AFT ages of 61.0 ± 5.1 Ma, 59.5 ± 5.2 and 101.6 ± 6.7 Ma, respectively, and corresponding U-Pb ages of 497.4 ± 17.5 Ma (MSWD: 7.4), 353.5 ± 13.5 Ma (MSWD: 3.1) and 261.2 ± 8.5 Ma (MSWD: 5.9). All AFT data fail the χ<sup>2</sup> test, suggesting AFT ages do not comprise a single statistically significant population, whereas U-Pb ages reflect the pre-depositional history of the samples and are likely from various provenances. Apatite chemistry is known to control the temperature and rates at which fission tracks undergo thermal annealing. The r<sub>mro</sub> parameter uses grain specific chemistry to predict apatite’s kinetic behaviour and is used to identify kinetic populations within samples. Grain chemistry was measured via electron microprobe analysis to derive r<sub>mro</sub> values and each sample was separated into two kinetic populations that pass the χ<sup>2</sup> test: a less retentive population with ages ranging from 49.3 ± 9.3 Ma to 36.4 ± 4.7 Ma, and a more retentive population with ages ranging from 157.7 ± 19 Ma to 103.3 ± 11.8 Ma, with r<sub>mr0</sub> benchmarks ranging from 0.79 and 0.82. Thermal history models reveal Devonian strata reached maximum burial temperatures (~165°C-185°C) prior to late Paleozoic to Mesozoic unroofing, and reheated to lower temperatures (~75°C-110°C) in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. Both Cretaceous samples record maximum burial temperatures (75°C-95°C) also during the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. These new data indicate that Devonian source rocks matured prior to deposition of Cretaceous strata and that subsequent burial and heating during the Cretaceous to Paleogene was limited to the low-temperature threshold of the oil window. Integrating multi-kinetic AFT data with traditional methods in petroleum geosciences can help unravel complex thermal histories of sedimentary basins. Applying these methods elsewhere can improve the characterisation of petroleum systems.</p>

Late Miocene thermal history of the Hengchun Peninsula, Southern Taiwan: Apatite Fission-Track data from the Lilungshan Formation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shao-I Kao ◽  
Wen-Shan Chen ◽  
Tong Hin Chan
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Closure Temperature ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Fission Tracks ◽  
Southern Taiwan

<p>This study aims to investigate the thermal history regarding the Late Miocene Formation of the Hengchun Peninsula with low-temperature thermal chronometry. The samples used in our study were from Lilungshan Formation, which included quartzite (conglomerates) and sandstones (matrix). Lilungshan Formation was an upper fan or feeder channel deposits in shelf environments. Measurements of paleocurrent indicate that these rocks were transported from the NW to the SE, which may represent its source area is a low-grade metamorphic orogenic belt (Yuli belt). In the Late Miocene, outcrops of Yuli belt were low-grade metamorphic rocks with low metamorphic temperatures. To do so, low-temperature thermal chronometry was applied to measure the time since the Lilungshan Formation cooling below the closure temperature. Apatite Fission-track thermochronology is used in this study, which is a radiometric dating method that refers to thermal histories of rocks within the closure temperature range of 110–135°C.</p><p>Our study indicates that the pooled age of apatite fission tracks of conglomerates is 3.3–5 Ma and the grain ages of sandstones are below 5 Ma. Those ages are lower than the formation age of Lilungshan Formation (NN11, > 5.6 Ma). In addition, the grain ages spectrum of sandstones is partial annealing, which implies that the conglomerate has suffered from the thermal event and rapidly brought to the earth’s surface within 4 Ma. This study also compares data of previous studies with regard to the fission tracks of conglomerates in Southern Taiwan and confirms the existence of thermal events. With the assumption that the thermal gradient of the accretionary prism is 40–45°C/km, we can suggest that Lilungshan Formation was located 3 km below the earth's surface in roughly 4 Ma.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Hengchun Peninsula, Lilungshan Formation, Apatite Fission Track, thermal history, chronometry, Late Miocene</p>

Thermal history modelling of the western margin of the Bohemian Massif using high-resolution apatite fission-track thermochronology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Novakova ◽  
Raymond Jonckheere ◽  
Bastian Wauschkuhn ◽  
Lothar Ratchbacher
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Bohemian Massif ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Track Length ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Fission Track Thermochronology ◽  
Length Measurements ◽  
Thermal Histories ◽  
Fission Track Ages

<p>The Naab area is situated on the western border of the Bohemian Massif, 60 km south of the KTB (Kontinentalen Tiefbohrung). The main super-deep borehole of the KTB reached a depth of 9,101 meters in the Earth's continental crust. The fission-track data for the KTB and the Naab area present contrasting signatures. The apatite fission-track ages in the upper section of the KTB borehole and surrounding area are in the range 50-70 Ma (Wagner et al., 1994; Wauschkuhn et al., 2015). The apatite fission-track ages of the Naab basement are older than those of the KTB area, and span a broader range: 120-200 Ma (Vercoutere, 1994). The distributions of the confined-track lengths range from unimodal over skewed and mixed to bimodal, with mean lengths in the range 11-13 µm. In broad terms, this can be interpreted as that the Naab samples contain both an older and younger (in particular pre- and post-late Cretaceous) fission-track population. The aim of our research is to investigate the applicability of lab-based models to geological data, using improved measurement techniques.</p><p>We studied eighteen samples dated by Vercoutere (1994) from the Palaeozoic basement and seven large rock samples from the Rotliegend strata north of the Luhe fault.  We intend to extend the confined-track length measurements of Vercoutere (1994), aiming to achieve higher resolution through methodological innovations made possible by computer-controlled motorized microscopes. Improved statistics increase the resolution of the modelled thermal histories, which permits to better distinguish systematic from statistical differences between the modelled palaeotemperatures and geological estimates. Experiments have shown that the rate of length increase permits to distinguish older from younger tracks (Jonckheere et al., 2017). This allows us to distinguish between tracks formed before and after the Late Cre­taceous to Palaeocene exhumation. The etch rate of a confined track is also an indicator of its individual thermal history, supplementing the information gleaned from its etchable length under fixed conditions. We compiled a comprehensive, high-resolution confined-track-length dataset. The Naab thermal histories were determined using modern modelling algorithms, implementing the most recent empirical equations.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>Jonckheere R., Tamer M., Wauschkuhn F., Wauschkuhn B., Ratschbacher L., 2017. Single-track length measurements of step-etched fission tracks in Durango apatite: Vorsprung durch Technik.American Mineralogist 102, 987-996.</p><p>Vercoutere C., 1994. The thermotectonic history of the Brabant Massif (Belgium) and the Naab Basement (Germany):   an apatite fission track analysis. Ph. D. thesis, Universiteit Gent, pp. 191.</p><p>Wagner G.A., Hejl E., Van Den Haute P., 1994. The KTB fission-track project: Methodical aspects and geological implications. Radiation Measurements 23, 95-101.</p><p>Wauschkuhn B., Jonckheere R., Ratschbacher L., 2015. The KTB apatite fission-track profiles: building on a firm foundation? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 167, 27-62.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document