Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    The contribution of the sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) to lunar geochronology

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Pidgeon, Robert
    Nemchin, Alexander
    Meyer, C.
    Date
    2010
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Pidgeon, R.T. and Nemchin, A.A. and Meyer, C. 2010. The contribution of the sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) to lunar geochronology. Precambrian Research. 183 (1): pp. 44-49.
    Source Title
    Precambrian Research
    DOI
    10.1016/j.precamres.2010.06.010
    ISSN
    03019268
    School
    Department of Applied Geology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3930
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    The sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) developed at the Australian National University (ANU) was the first of the high-resolution ion microprobes. The impact of this instrument on geochronological research over the last twenty years has been immense. This is particularly so for lunar geochronology where it has opened up avenues of research that were not possible using conventional TIMS techniques. The great advantage of SHRIMP is that it provides a means for determining precise U–Pb isotopic ratios on selected micron-size areas on polished grains of zircon and other U-bearing minerals. One of the first projects undertaken on the newly invented SHRIMP I was an investigation of U–Pb ages of lunar zircon. Using SHRIMP, multiple analyses could be made on areas of individual zircons to test the stability of U–Pb systems in shocked grains. Also, by analysing grains “in situ”, textural relationships between the analysed zircon and the components of the sample breccia could be used in the interpretation of the SHRIMP data.As a result of this research it was realised that most lunar zircons have ages up to 500 Ma older than the Imbrium and Serenitatis impacts at ca. 3.9 Ga, demonstrating that the zircons have not been affected by the these impact events although heating and shock effects have profoundly disturbed other dating systems. This has opened the way for research into the early lunar magmatic and bombardment record. For example, recent SHRIMP results have revealed profound differences in the ages of zircons from breccias from the Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 sample sites, raising new questions about the evolution of lunar magmatism. Also, multiple SHRIMP analyses on complex lunar zircons have shown that these grains can record U–Pb disturbance by later impact events. SHRIMP U–Pb age determinations on phosphates in lunar meteorites has identified lunar events not recognised in samples from the Apollo program. SHRIMP-based research on lunar materials is ongoing and, in combination with other chemical and structural evidence, continues to stimulate new ideas on the early evolution of the Moon.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thermal history recorded by the Apollo 17 impact melt breccia 73217
      Grange, Marion; Nemchin, Alexander; Pidgeon, Robert; Timms, Nicholas Eric; Muhling, J.; Kennedy, Allen (2009)
      Lunar breccia 73217 is composed of plagioclase and pyroxene clasts originating from a single gabbronorite intrusion, mixed with a silica-rich glass interpreted to represent an impact melt. A study of accessory minerals ...
    • A terrestrial perspective on using ex situ shocked zircons to date lunar impacts
      Cavosie, Aaron; Erickson, Timmons; Timms, Nicholas Eric; Reddy, Steven; Talavera, Cristina; Montalvo, S.; Pincus, M.; Gibbon, R.; Moser, D. (2015)
      Deformed lunar zircons yielding U-Pb ages from 4333 Ma to 1407 Ma have been interpreted as dating discrete impacts on the Moon. However, the cause of age resetting in lunar zircons is equivocal; as ex situ grains in ...
    • Terrestrial-like zircon in a clast from an Apollo 14 breccia
      Bellucci, J.; Nemchin, Alexander; Grange, M.; Robinson, K.; Collins, G.; Whitehouse, M.; Snape, J.; Norman, M.; Kring, D. (2019)
      A felsite clast in lunar breccia Apollo sample 14321, which has been interpreted as Imbrium ejecta, has petrographic and chemical features that are consistent with formation conditions commonly assigned to both lunar and ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.