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PL57 garnet as a new natural reference material for in situ U–Pb isotope analysis and its perspective for geological applications

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Abstract

Garnet is a common U-bearing mineral in various magmatic and metamorphic rocks with a high U–Pb closure temperature (> 850 °C), rendering it a potentially valuable U–Pb geochronometer. However, a high U (> 10 ppm) garnet reference material that suits both quadrupole and/or multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is yet to be established. This study evaluates a potential reference material for in situ garnet U–Pb analysis with anomalously high U content from the Prairie Lake alkaline complex, Canada. The PL57 garnet, occurring in a calcite ijolite, has high TiO2 (6.5–15.0 wt%, average 12.7 wt%) and Fe2O3 (17.1–21.3 wt%) contents and is a member of the andradite (26–66 mol.%)-morimotoite (18–41 mol.%)-schorlomite (16–35 mol.%) solid solution series. Four samples were dated by U–Pb ID-TIMS to assess reproducibility. Twelve TIMS analyses produced concordant, equivalent results. Garnet PL57 yielded a concordant age of 1156.2 ± 1.2 Ma (2σ, n = 10, MSWD = 1.0), based on ten analyses with two results discarded due to possible mineral inclusions (if included, the concordia age is 1156.6 ± 1.8 Ma; n = 12, MSWD = 2.0). PL57 had 27–76 ppm (average 41 ppm) U with Th/U of 0.51–0.68 (average 0.63). The total common Pb content ranged from 0.4 to 3.9 pg (average 1.1 pg). Laser ablation coupled with ICP-MS and high angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) imaging provide direct evidence that U is incorporated and homogeneously distributed within the garnet lattice rather than as defects or pore spaces. Published garnet samples and standards were then tested by calibrating the Willsboro, Mali, Qicun, and Tonglvshan garnet against PL57, which gave accurate ages within the recommended values. Case studies of garnet from the Archean Musselwhite orogenic gold deposit in Canada and the Cenozoic Changanchong and Habo skarn deposits in China yield reliable ages. This suggests that PL57 is a robust U–Pb isotope reference material. The limited variations of U and Pb isotopic ratios, together with the high U concentration and extremely low initial common Pb, make PL57 an ideal calibration and monitor reference material for in situ measurements.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFA0702605 and 2018YFC0603903), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (41972070 and 41702067) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (17lgpy63). Hearty thanks are due to Dr. Yiping Yang for kindly supporting and valuable discussion during and after the TEM analysis, Drs. Shitao Zhang, Yanwen Tang and Xiaodong Deng are thanked for allowing the usage of their dated garnet samples. We thank Dr. Pengli He for helping with the EPMA analysis, and Drs. Rong Yin and Changming Xing for calibrating and discussing the EPMA data. PL57 is read as “Piaoliang Wuqi” in Chinese, which means a beautiful weapon, hopefully, we will have a very good development on garnet U-Pb dating. We also thank Drs Matthijs. A Smit and James Darling for their constructive comments. The careful editorial handling of Prof. Daniela Rubatto is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    Dengfeng Li, Yu Fu, Qiaofen Liu, Yongjia Liang & Xiaoming Sun

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    Dengfeng Li, Yu Fu, Qiaofen Liu, Yongjia Liang & Xiaoming Sun

  3. Department of Geology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Pete Hollings, Roger H. Mitchell & Shannon Zurevinski

  4. Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B1, Canada

    Sandra Kamo

  5. State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Rongqing Zhang

  6. School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Yu Zhang

  7. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    Jianlin Liao & Xiaoming Sun

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  1. Dengfeng Li
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410_2021_1884_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx

Supplementary file1 Appendix Table A1 Major element compositions and calculated garnet endmember of PL57. Appendix Table A2 Trace element compositions of PL57. Appendix Table A3-1 U-Pb analysis results of previously published garnet samples (Agilent 7900 ICP-MS; Willsboro and Mali). A3-2 U-Pb analysis results of published garnet samples (iCAPTM RQ ICP-MS; Willsboro Mali and Qicun). A3-3 U-Pb analysis results of Tonglvshan garnet. A4-1,-2 and -3 U-Pb analysis results of Musselwhite, Changanchong and Habo garnet, respectively (XLSX 370 kb)

410_2021_1884_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary file2 Appendix Figure S1. (a) Microphotograph of gold bearing garnet, the gold is identified by laser ablation and coexists with pyrrhotite and garnet, (b) the time-resolved signal show that there is Au197 spikes during ablation. Appendix Figure S2. (a) BSE image shows a 60 µm laser spot on garnet and (b) mineral inclusion of magnetite in the garnet, with EDS elemental maps of Si (c), Ca (d) and Fe (e) in these two minerals. Appendix Figure S3. The concordant age of each sample of PL57 and two repeats. Appendix Figure S4. EPMA mapping of two PL57 garnet grains, the major elements are homogeneously distributed in the grain, as there may be some minor mineral inclusions such as magnetite in the garnet grains, it is recommended to screen for mineral inclusions prior to and during analyses. Abbreviations: Grt = garnet, Mgt = magnetite (PDF 5999 kb)

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Li, D., Fu, Y., Hollings, P. et al. PL57 garnet as a new natural reference material for in situ U–Pb isotope analysis and its perspective for geological applications. Contrib Mineral Petrol 177, 19 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-021-01884-4

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