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On the breakdown of zircon upon “dry” thermal annealing

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Abstract

Zircon samples without and with secondary chemical alteration from diverse sources were subjected to heat treatment at 1400 °C for 96 h. Resulting new phases and textures suggest that decomposition of zircon into component oxides occurred in all experiments to various degrees. The crucible material was found to have a strong influence on the extent of breakdown, especially in the case of altered starting materials. In this study the progressive stages of the breakdown of zircon grains are described. The factors that may govern the decomposition are discussed, including radiation damage, secondary alteration and external reaction conditions (sample container, atmosphere). Alumina crucibles should generally be avoided in dry annealing of zircon, to minimise uncontrolled breakdown into oxides.

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Acknowledgements

Samples studied in this research were kindly provided by J.M. Hanchar (synthetic zircon), M. Wiedenbeck (91500), W. Hofmeister (M127, M144, M146, M257), and C. Pérez-Soba (87165). Thanks are due to A. Wagner for the excellent sample preparation, and to B. Ullrich for obtaining a BSE image of an annealed La Pedriza zircon. We are grateful to I. Dódony and D.W. Davis for helpful discussions and suggestions. The constructive reviews by J.M. Hanchar and an anonymous expert, and detailed comments by associate editor A. Möller, greatly contributed to the manuscript. Partial funding for this study was provided by the European Commission through contract no. MEXC-CT-2005-024878 and by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through grant no. P20028-N10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mineralogie und Kristallographie, Universität Wien, Althanstraße 14, 1090, Wien, Austria

    Tamás Váczi, Lutz Nasdala & Eugen Libowitzky

  2. Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Richard Wirth

  3. Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS), Universität Wien, Franz Klein-Gasse 1, 1190, Wien, Austria

    Mathias Mehofer

  4. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Saarstr. 21, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Tobias Häger

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  1. Tamás Váczi
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Correspondence to Tamás Váczi.

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Editorial handling: A. Möller

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Váczi, T., Nasdala, L., Wirth, R. et al. On the breakdown of zircon upon “dry” thermal annealing. Miner Petrol 97, 129–138 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-009-0087-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-009-0087-9

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