1.8: The UPO Methods of Dating 17 y, [Ndl, =35 ppm; ly =100 ppm; INd}, = 45 ppits Ifo. [Sely= 450 0.8 [= 100 x 0.2 = 380 ppm 450 38 | =o7030%08 + 0720 «02 Na }y=35 «0.84 450.2 (ae | = 0481264 0:8 ya + 0.51100% 0.2 = fi Eqations s.29,1.30und f= 0.6 yield: [Sr]. 310 ppm (°S1F*Se)y = 0.70596, [NU]y = 39 ppm, ("NA/'NA)y, 0.588 uch hyperbolas represent igneous er metamorphic rocks that contain components derived both from theman tleand from the continental crust. The mentle component may berepresented bymagmas hat formed by partial melt- ingot ultramafic rocks in the asthenospheric or lthosphe- ric mantle. In addition, magmas derived by remelting of rmanile-derived volcanic rocks of basaltic composition may also contain Sr, Nd, and Ph (as well as Hand Os) whose Table 17, Physical properties of the nat~ Kotope Stable or unstable wally occurring isotopes of U aut Ph Yu usta By unstable rb stable” isotope compositions are indistinguishable from those that characterize magma sources in the mantle The systematics of mixing two components conta ing two clements having different isotope compositions have been presented by Vollmer (1976), Langenuir etl (0978), Faure (i986),and are discussed in Sect. 3.2. 1.8 The U-Pb Methods of Dating Uranium has two long-lived naturally-eccurring radio. active isotopes CU and >8U) both of which decay to st. tle isotopes of Pb. (Table 1.7). Each ofthe two U isotopes supports a series of unstable daughters including ?"U, which is a daughter of "™U. third series results from toe decay ot “31h, the only long-lived naturally-oceur ring radioactive isotope of Th. The isotopes of U and Th reach a stale of secular equilibrium with :heis short-lived dag same rate as thet respec er8 such that sll members of the ehain decay at parents. In cases where secu lar equilibrium was established and has been maintained to the present time, isotopes is equal to the rate of decay of the parent nu: dlide atthe head of the decay series, Thetefore, the U,Th Pb decay systematics can be treated as though the par- ent isotope had decayed! directly to the stable daughter: 1 Fate af production ofthe stable Pb any Pb ste Pb 28th pp Although the decay of the Th to “Pb (A= 4.0475 x10! yr) can be used to dite Th-bearing minerals, such dates do not always agree with U-Pb dates of the same sample, For this and other reasons, the Th-Pb method of dating is no longer widely used, The growth of the radiogenic isotopes of Pb by decay of the isotopes of U is expressed by equations: "py Hep) BU ie Tp Pb. (The *UPPb ratio is also symbolized by ji) ‘Mass (ama) Abundance) Decay constant") 98t8s0x10 207976627 528 20307300)18 Garrat - Chemical Properties and isotope Systematics py (R) ->5y Table 1.8. Coordinates for eamteacton ef the UP concordia curve Si (20) . Vey (assy felon rene tae many py” (5p |, “py ats <0 y These equations are used to calculate dates of cer. #(00°yr) Seo uy) pri? u ie) tain U-bearing minerals that : ; Admit U but exclude Pb; nodosa 0630079 Resist chemical alteration: 167903 era 3 Occur in a wide variety of rocks 0261087 3380991 0363768 6.68525 The minerals that meet these criteria inelude zircon, a - baddeleyite, monazite, sphene, apatite, and rutile. Whole rock samples are generally not suitable for dating by the U-Pb method because both elements may be last by hhydrothermat alteration and chemical weathering. How. ever igneous and metamorphic rucks have been dated successtully by the Pb-Pb method which relies on the Pb/*"b ratios of U-bearing socks and their ages (Sect. 1.8.2). relation between the 1.8.1 The U-Pb Concordia In most cases, dates based on the decay of 2U 16 “Pb and of 2° te "Pb are discordant (i.e. they do not agree). The reason for the discordance is that the min- erals may have lost radiogenic Po during episodes of thermal metamorphism of by continuous diffusion at elevated temperature. If the loss uf Pb occurred in the pbePh ratio of the remaining Pb may not have been changed significantly. Theretore, dates calculated from the “" Pb/"*Pb ratio are older and hence more reliable than dates calculated from the in- dividual decay schemes (Faure 1986). The problem oF discordance of U-Pb dates was solved by Wetherill (1956,1963) by means of the concordia diagram derived From Eq.1.32 and 1.33. The date based on decay of “*U to PD is calculated from Eq. 1.32 which can be rearranged to yield the ratio, of radiogenic Pb to "Us recent past, the Spb CPi" Pb), wpe - Po faa u Similarly for the decay of "U1 2°Pb (Eq, 1399 © pbs Pb — 2 pb/™Pb), Sy%pp less (135) ‘where the asterisk identifies the radiogenic Ph isou Equations 1.44 and 135 are used tocaclate the Pb"? and’ Pb'/?°U ratios by substituting the same value of + 3608 asin 18% con oases7 sen UPbeoneeaia 04 Pe wee gy ACs ‘age the miterafs calculated fey The vriginal the coordinates ofthe upperpoint of intersection, Th lower point, bl imersectom indicates the se elapsed since hss ( ‘nly in cases wehere the loss (or gain) was episodic rather than Eantsuows, The dished ne eepresente the dilusion trajectory basecom the work of Tilton 00) nto both equations, The results in Table 1.8 generate the concordia curve which represents U-Pb systems that yield concordant U-Pb dates (Fig, 1.8), AIL U-Pb systems that have remained closed to U and Pb since the time of their formation havePb'/?*U and °"pb' FU ratios that define a point on concordia and therefore yieldconcordant dates. When a U-bearing min: eral loses radiogenic Pb during an episode of thermal metamorphism, the point representing it leaves concor= dia and moves along a straight line towards the origi The resulting chord in Fig, 1.81s called discordia becat the U-Pb systems that define it yield discorlant dates