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Zircon

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Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

Synonyms

Cyrtolite; Zirconium silicate

Zircon (ZrSiO4) is a common accessory mineral found throughout a wide range of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types and unconsolidated sediments (e.g., beach or river sands). Zircon crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system and contains the SiO4 tetrahedra as the framework of its crystal structure. As such it is classified as an orthosilicate (or nesosilicate) mineral (Finch and Hanchar 2003) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Secondary electron images of synthetic rare-earth element (Er) and P-doped zircon crystals. (a) Twinned crystals. (b) Single crystal

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, A1B 3X5, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    John M. Hanchar

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  1. John M. Hanchar
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Correspondence to John M. Hanchar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    W. Jack Rink

  2. Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Jeroen Thompson

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Hanchar, J.M. (2014). Zircon. In: Rink, W., Thompson, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_58-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_58-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6326-5

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