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Diffusion of 40Ar in hornblende

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Abstract

Measured radiogenic 40Ar loss from two compositionally contrasting hornblendes following isothermal-hydrothermal treatment have provided model diffusion coefficients in the temperature range of 750° C to 900° C. Eight experiments using a hornblende (77–600) with a Mg/(Mg +Fe) ratio of 0.72 yield a linear array on an Arrhenius plot with a slope corresponding to an activation energy of 66.1 kcal-mol−1 and a frequency factor of 0.061 cm2-sec−1, assuming spherical geometry for the mineral aggregate. Five experiments undertaken on a hornblende (M Mhb-1) with a Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratio of 0.36 show similar behavior to the Mgrich sample, suggesting that the diffusivity of Ar in hornblendes is not sensitive to the Mg/Fe ratio.

These data are consistent with kinetic information obtained from a geological experiment using the thermal effect of a granitoid intrusion. Together these data yield an activation energy of 64.1±1.7 kcal-mol−1 and a frequency factor of 0.024± 0.0530.011 cm2-sec−1. For a hornblende with an effective diffusion radius of 80 μm, these diffusion parameters predict closure temperatures between 578° C and 490° C for cooling rates in the range 500 to 5° C-Ma−1.

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  1. T. Mark Harrison

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York at Albany, 12222, Albany, New York, USA

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  1. Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, 2600, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    T. Mark Harrison

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Mark Harrison, T. Diffusion of 40Ar in hornblende. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 78, 324–331 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00398927

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