Jourdan 2012, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 59, 199–224.

40
The Ar/39Ar dating technique applied to planetary sciences and
terrestrial impacts

F. JOURDAN

Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility, JdL Centre & Applied Geology, Curtin
University, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 59 (2), 199–224.

Jourdan 2012, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 59, 199–224.

Annexe 1 40Ar/39Ar dating methodology used for the Acraman impact melt rock.
We selected a melt rock hand specimen sample for 40Ar/39Ar dating and separated
the least altered chips. The ~ 500 µm melt rock chips were carefully hand-picked
under a binocular microscope. The selected melt rock chips were further leached in
diluted HF for one minute and then thoroughly rinsed with distilled water in an
ultrasonic cleaner.
Samples were loaded into 1 large wells of one 1.9 cm diameter and 0.3 cm depth
aluminum disc. These wells were bracketed by small wells that included FCs
sanidine used as a neutron fluence monitor for which an age of 28.03 ± 0.08 Ma was
adopted at the time of the measurement and a good in-between grain reproducibility
has been demonstrated (Jourdan & Renne 2007). The discs were Cd-shielded (to
minimize undesirable nuclear interference reactions) and irradiated for 25 hours in
the Hamilton McMaster University nuclear reactor (Canada) in position 5C. The mean
J-values computed from standard grains within the small pits range from 0.009053 (±
0.46%) to 0.0026644 (± 0.46%) determined as the average and standard deviation of
J-values of the small wells for each irradiation disc. Mass discrimination was
monitored using an automated air pipette and provided mean values of 1.004233 (±
0.5%) to 1.003963 (± 0.35%) per dalton (atomic mass unit). The correction factors for
interfering isotopes were (39Ar/37Ar)Ca = 7.30x10-4 (± 11%), (36Ar/37Ar)Ca = 2.82x10-4 (±
1%) and (40Ar/39Ar)K = 6.76x10-4 (± 32%).
The 40Ar/39Ar analyses were performed at the Western Australian Argon Isotope
Facility at Curtin University, operated by a consortium consisting of Curtin University
and the University of Western Australia. The samples were step-heated using a 110
W Spectron Laser Systems, with a continuous Nd-YAG (IR; 1064 nm) laser rastered
over the sample during 1 minute to ensure an homogenously distributed temperature.
The gas was purified in a stainless steel extraction line using a GP50 and two AP10
SAES getters and a liquid nitrogen condensation trap. Ar isotopes were measured in
static mode using a MAP 215-50 mass spectrometer (resolution of ~ 500; sensitivity
of 2x10-14 mol/V) with a Balzers SEV 217 electron multiplier mostly using 9 to 10
cycles of peak-hopping. The data acquisition was performed with the Argus program
written by M.O. McWilliams and ran under a LabView environment. The raw data
were processed using the ArArCALC software (Koppers 2002) and the step ages
have been calculated using the decay constants recommended by Steiger & Jäger
(1977). However, the final mini-plateau age of sample ACR1-1 has been recalculated
using the constants and standard ages of Renne et al. (2010). Blanks were
monitored every 3 to 4 steps and typical 40Ar blanks range from 1 x 10-16 to 2 x 10-16
mol. Ar isotopic data corrected for blank, mass discrimination and radioactive decay
are given in Annex 2. Individual errors in Annex 2 are given at the 1σ level. Our
criteria for the determination of plateau are as follows: plateaus must include at least
70% of 39Ar. The plateau should be distributed over a minimum of 3 consecutive
steps agreeing at 95% confidence level and satisfying a probability of fit (P) of at
least 0.05. Plateau ages, the table in Annex 2 and Figure 4 are given at the 2σ level
and are calculated using the mean of all the plateau steps, each weighted by the
inverse variance of their individual analytical error. Mini-plateaus are defined similarly
except that they include between 50% and 70% of 39Ar. Integrated ages (2σ) are
calculated using the total gas released for each Ar isotope. Inverse isochrons include
the maximum number of steps with a probability of fit ≥0.05.
Jourdan 2012, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 59, 199–224.

References
JOURDAN F. & RENNE P. R. 2007. Age calibration of the Fish Canyon sanidine 40Ar/39Ar
dating standard using primary K-Ar standards. Geochimica et Cosmochimica
Acta 71, 387–402.
KOPPERS A. A. P. 2002. ArArCALC-software for 40Ar/39Ar age calculations. Computers
& Geosciences 28, 605–619.
RENNE P. R., MUNDIL R., BALCO G., MIN K. & LUDWIG K. R. 2010. Joint determination of
40
K decay constants and 40Ar*/40K for the Fish Canyon sanidine standard, and
improved accuracy for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica
Acta 74, 5349–5367.
STEIGER R. H. & JÄGER E. 1977. Subcommission on geochronology: convention on the
use of decay constants in geo- and cosmochronology. Earth and Planetary
Science Letters 36, 359–362.
Jourdan 2012, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 59, 199–224.

Annex 2 Ar data for the Acraman Impact Structure

ACR1-1
36 37 38 39 40
Intercept Values Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ
8A0478D 55.0 % 0.012642 0.000028 0.000164 0.000004 0.004760 0.000023 0.167846 0.000162 8.211610 0.006039
8A0479D 55.5 % 0.000618 0.000007 0.000128 0.000005 0.002014 0.000030 0.162457 0.000228 5.401712 0.004115
8A0482D 56.0 % 0.000631 0.000009 0.000117 0.000005 0.001670 0.000018 0.132011 0.000176 4.425257 0.002518
8A0483D 56.1 % 0.000226 0.000005 0.000040 0.000002 0.000332 0.000010 0.022858 0.000061 0.785702 0.001425
8A0484D 56.6 % 0.000657 0.000012 0.000118 0.000005 0.002070 0.000026 0.156337 0.000224 5.057527 0.003643
8A0485D 57.0 % 0.001067 0.000013 0.000119 0.000006 0.002265 0.000036 0.167060 0.000245 5.443179 0.004790
8A0486D 57.3 % 0.002675 0.000015 0.000210 0.000011 0.004327 0.000028 0.293049 0.000283 9.723097 0.001849
8A0487D 57.4 % 0.001144 0.000011 0.000084 0.000004 0.001362 0.000022 0.089912 0.000174 3.065058 0.001124
8A0490D 57.6 % 0.001360 0.000016 0.000109 0.000006 0.001756 0.000032 0.115437 0.000127 3.905765 0.000933
8A0491D 58.0 % 0.001757 0.000012 0.000102 0.000008 0.001869 0.000018 0.113517 0.000144 3.990896 0.001331
8A0492D 59.0 % 0.004285 0.000020 0.000226 0.000008 0.004388 0.000059 0.268921 0.000212 9.510875 0.001256
8A0493D 60.0 % 0.001904 0.000018 0.000113 0.000005 0.002119 0.000021 0.134563 0.000188 4.695369 0.002652
8A0496D 63.0 % 0.003341 0.000031 0.000196 0.000007 0.002624 0.000041 0.150710 0.000256 5.607090 0.002524

ACR2-1
36 37 38 39 40
Intercept Values Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ Ar 1σ
8A0535D 55.0 % 0.002246 0.000025 0.000066 0.000006 0.001717 0.000031 0.090854 0.000217 3.343834 0.001256
8A0536D 55.5 % 0.000943 0.000012 0.000046 0.000004 0.000885 0.000013 0.054265 0.000083 2.047018 0.000754
8A0537D 56.0 % 0.000247 0.000005 0.000038 0.000002 0.000309 0.000012 0.022267 0.000086 0.793628 0.001045
8A0681D 56.5 % 0.000071 0.000004 0.000033 0.000002 0.000122 0.000004 0.008397 0.000049 0.281815 0.000781
8A0682D 57.0 % 0.000335 0.000007 0.000053 0.000006 0.001126 0.000025 0.080421 0.000185 2.573975 0.001229
8A0683D 57.1 % 0.000217 0.000007 0.000038 0.000004 0.000342 0.000016 0.022201 0.000087 0.732780 0.001181
8A0684D 57.4 % 0.000497 0.000012 0.000053 0.000004 0.001436 0.000024 0.102785 0.000123 3.253785 0.000789
8A0687D 57.6 % 0.000341 0.000006 0.000037 0.000005 0.000810 0.000020 0.054478 0.000129 1.730302 0.000994
8A0688D 57.8 % 0.000294 0.000005 0.000037 0.000007 0.000661 0.000017 0.047601 0.000114 1.514162 0.000804
8A0689D 58.5 % 0.001257 0.000018 0.000093 0.000007 0.003747 0.000045 0.269463 0.000241 8.429826 0.002966
8A0690D 59.0 % 0.000568 0.000014 0.000051 0.000002 0.001535 0.000017 0.111744 0.000199 3.443942 0.000759
8A0693D 59.8 % 0.001052 0.000017 0.000066 0.000005 0.002727 0.000010 0.192449 0.000345 5.987263 0.001559
8A0694D 60.6 % 0.000990 0.000018 0.000063 0.000004 0.002697 0.000028 0.188936 0.000382 5.885110 0.002346
8A0695D 61.6 % 0.000732 0.000009 0.000053 0.000005 0.001632 0.000032 0.110962 0.000134 3.465343 0.001187
8A0696D 63.0 % 0.000755 0.000016 0.000049 0.000007 0.001549 0.000018 0.105031 0.000088 3.229346 0.001029
8A0699D 65.0 % 0.000636 0.000006 0.000044 0.000005 0.001479 0.000020 0.100540 0.000241 3.162871 0.001471
8A0700D 68.0 % 0.000964 0.000010 0.000062 0.000004 0.002133 0.000016 0.145434 0.000442 4.585855 0.004263