Skip to main content
Log in

Ti-in-zircon thermometry: applications and limitations

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The titanium concentrations of 484 zircons with U-Pb ages of ∼1 Ma to 4.4 Ga were measured by ion microprobe. Samples come from 45 different igneous rocks (365 zircons), as well as zircon megacrysts (84) from kimberlite, Early Archean detrital zircons (32), and zircon reference materials (3). Samples were chosen to represent a large range of igneous rock compositions. Most of the zircons contain less than 20 ppm Ti. Apparent temperatures for zircon crystallization were calculated using the Ti-in-zircon thermometer (Watson et al. 2006, Contrib Mineral Petrol 151:413–433) without making corrections for reduced oxide activities (e.g., TiO2 or SiO2), or variable pressure. Average apparent Ti-in-zircon temperatures range from 500° to 850°C, and are lower than either zircon saturation temperatures (for granitic rocks) or predicted crystallization temperatures of evolved melts (∼15% melt residue for mafic rocks). Temperatures average: 653 ± 124°C (2 standard deviations, 60 zircons) for felsic to intermediate igneous rocks, 758 ± 111°C (261 zircons) for mafic rocks, and 758 ± 98°C (84 zircons) for mantle megacrysts from kimberlite. Individually, the effects of reduced \( a_{{\rm TiO}_{2}}\) or \( a_{{\rm SiO}_{2}}\), variable pressure, deviations from Henry’s Law, and subsolidus Ti exchange are insufficient to explain the seemingly low temperatures for zircon crystallization in igneous rocks. MELTs calculations show that mafic magmas can evolve to hydrous melts with significantly lower crystallization temperature for the last 10–15% melt residue than that of the main rock. While some magmatic zircons surely form in such late hydrous melts, low apparent temperatures are found in zircons that are included within phenocrysts or glass showing that those zircons are not from evolved residue melts. Intracrystalline variability in Ti concentration, in excess of analytical precision, is observed for nearly all zircons that were analyzed more than once. However, there is no systematic change in Ti content from core to rim, or correlation with zoning, age, U content, Th/U ratio, or concordance in U-Pb age. Thus, it is likely that other variables, in addition to temperature and \( a_{{\rm TiO}_{2}}\), are important in controlling the Ti content of zircon. The Ti contents of igneous zircons from different rock types worldwide overlap significantly. However, on a more restricted regional scale, apparent Ti-in-zircon temperatures correlate with whole-rock SiO2 and HfO2 for plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada batholith, averaging 750°C at 50 wt.% SiO2 and 600°C at 75 wt.%. Among felsic plutons in the Sierra, peraluminous granites average 610 ± 88°C, while metaluminous rocks average 694 ± 94°C. Detrital zircons from the Jack Hills, Western Australia with ages from 4.4 to 4.0 Ga have apparent temperatures of 717 ± 108°C, which are intermediate between values for felsic rocks and those for mafic rocks. Although some mafic zircons have higher Ti content, values for Early Archean detrital zircons from a proposed granitic provenance are similar to zircons from many mafic rocks, including anorthosites from the Adirondack Mts (709 ± 76°C). Furthermore, the Jack Hills zircon apparent Ti-temperatures are significantly higher than measured values for peraluminous granites (610 ± 88°C). Thus the Ti concentration in detrital zircons and apparent Ti-in-zircon temperatures are not sufficient to independently identify parent melt composition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asimow PD, Ghiorso MS (1998) Algorithmic modifications extending MELTS to calculate subsolidus phase relations. Am Mineral 83:1127–1132

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker DR, Conte AM, Freda C, Ottolini L (2002) The effect of halogens on Zr diffusion and zircon dissolution in hydrous metaluminous granitic melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 142:666–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin JA, Brown M, Schmitz MD (2007) First application of titanium-in-zircon thermometry to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism. Geology 35:295–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bea F, Montero PG, Gonzalez-Lodeiro F, Talavera C, Molina JF, Scarrow JH, Whitehouse MJ, Zinger T (2006) Zircon thermometry and U-Pb ion-microprobe dating of the gabbros and associated migmatites of the Variscan Toledo Anatectic Complex, Central Iberia. J Geol Soc London 163:847–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bindeman IN, Davis AM (2000) Trace element partitioning between plagioclase and melt: Investigation of dopant influence on partition behavior. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:2863–2878

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bindeman IN, Valley JW (2001) Low-δ18O rhyolites from Yellowstone: magmatic evolution based on analyses of zircons and individual phenocrysts. J Petrol 42:1491–1517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bindeman IN, Valley JW, Wooden JL, Persing HM (2001) Post-caldera volcanism: in situ measurement of U-Pb age and oxygen isotope ratio in Pleistocene zircons from Yellowstone caldera. Earth Planet Sci Lett 189:197–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black LP, Kamo SL, Allen CM, Davis DW, Aleinikoff JN, Valley JW, Mundil R, Campbell IH, Korsch RJ, Williams IS, Foudoulis C (2004) Improved 206Pb/238U microprobe geochronology by the monitoring of a trace-element-related matrix effect: SHRIMP, ID-TIMS, ELA-ICP-MS and oxygen isotope documentation for a series of zircon standards. Chem Geol 205:115–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohlen SR, Essene EJ (1978) Igneous pyroxenes from metamorphosed anorthosite massifs. Contrib Mineral Petrol 65:433–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohlen SR, Valley JW, Essene EJ (1985) Metamorphism in the Adirondacks: I, petrology, pressure and temperature. J Petrol 26:971–992

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael ISE, Nichols J, Smith AL (1970) Silica activity in igneous rocks. Am Mineral 55:246–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael ISE, Turner FJ, Verhoogen J (1974) Igneous petrology. McGraw Hill, New York, pp 1–739

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavosie AJ, Wilde SA, Liu DY, Weiblen PW, Valley JW (2004) Internal zoning and U-Th-Pb chemistry of Jack Hills detrital zircons: a mineral record of early Archean to Mesoproterozoic (4348–1576 Ma) magmatism. Precambrian Res 135:251–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavosie AJ, Kita NT, Valley JW (2005a) Magmatic δ18O in zircons from gabbros and serpentinized peridotite at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (ODP Leg 153). Eos Trans AGU, Abstr 86, OS33A-1453

  • Cavosie AJ, Valley JW, Wilde SA, EIMF (2005b) Magmatic δ18O in 4400–3900 Ma detrital zircons: a record of the alteration and recycling of crust in the Early Archean. Earth Planet Sci Lett 235:663–681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavosie AJ, Valley JW, Wilde SA, EIMF (2006) Correlated microanalysis of zircon: trace element, δ18O, and U–Th–Pb isotopic constraints on the igneous origin of complex >3900 Ma detrital grains. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 70:5601–5616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavosie AJ, Valley JW, Wilde SA (2007) The oldest terrestrial mineral record: a review of 4400 to 4000 Ma detrital zircons from the Jack Hills, Western Australia. In: van Kranendonk MJ, Smithies RH, Bennett VC (eds) Earth’s oldest rocks. Developments Precambrian Geol 15:91–111

  • Chappell BW, White AJR, Williams IS, Wyborn D (2004) Low- and high-temperature granites. Trans R Soc Edinb Earth Sci 95:125–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherniak DJ, Watson EB (2007) Ti diffusion in zircon. Chem Geol 242:470–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherniak DJ, Hanchar JM, Watson EB (1997a) Diffusion of tetravalent cations in zircon. Contrib Mineral Petrol 127:383–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherniak DJ, Hanchar JM, Watson EB (1997b) Rare-earth diffusion in zircon. Chem Geol 134:289–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claiborne LL, Miller CF, Walker BA, Wooden JL, Mazdab FK, Bea F (2006) Tracking magmatic processes through Zr/Hf ratios in rocks and Hf and Ti zoning in zircons: an example from the Spirit Mountain batholith, Nevada. Mineral Mag 70:517–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clechenko CC, Valley JW, Hamilton MA, Emslie RF (2003) Contamination of the Nain anorthosite: an oxygen isotope perspective. Geol Soc Am Ann Meet Abstr 35:630

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemens JD (2003) S-type granitic magmas––petrogenetic issues, models and evidence. Earth Sci Rev 61:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coogan LA, Hinton RW (2006) Do the trace element compositions of detrital zircons require Hadean continental crust? Geology 34:633–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis DW, Trowell NF (1982) U-Pb zircon ages from eastern Savant Lake-Crow Lake metavolcanic-metasediementary belt, northwest Ontario. Can J Earth Sci 19:868–877

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis DW, Edwards GR (1982) Zircon U-Pb ages from the Kakagi Lake area, Wabigoon Subprovince, northwest Ontario. Can J Earth Sci 19:1235–1245

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis DW, Blackburn CE, Trowell NF, Edwards GR (1980) Geochronology of the Savant-Crow Lakes area, Western Wabigoon Subprovince, Districts of Kenora, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Ont Geol Surv Misc Paper 92:24–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis DW, Krogh TE, Hinzer J, Nakamura E (1985) Zircon dating of polycyclic volcanism at Sturgeon Lake and implications for base metal mineralization. Econ Geol 80:1942–1952

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferry JM, Watson EB (2007) New thermodynamic models and revised calibrations for the Ti-in-zircon and Zr-in-rutile thermometers. Contrib Mineral Petrol 154:429–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fournelle J (2008) The problem of secondary fluorescence in EPMA in the application of the Ti-in-zircon geothermometer and the utility of PENEPMA Monte Carlo program. Microsc Microanal (in press)

  • Fu B, Cavosie AJ, Clechenko CC, Fournelle J, Kita NT, Lackey JS, Page FZ, Wilde SA, Valley JW (2005) Ti-in-zircon thermometer: preliminary results. Eos Trans AGU, Abstr 86, V41F-1538

  • Ghiorso MS, Sack RO (1995) Chemical mass transfer in magmatic processes. IV. A revised and internally consistent thermodynamic model for the interpolation and extrapolation of liquid-solid equilibria in magmatic systems at elevated temperatures and pressures. Contrib Mineral Petrol 119:197–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glikson A (2006) Comment on “Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth” I. Science 311:779a

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimes CB, John BE, Kelemen PB, Mazdab FK, Wooden JL, Cheadle MJ, Hanghøj K, Schwartz JJ (2007) Trace element chemistry of zircons from oceanic crust: A method for distinguishing detrital zircon provenance. Geology 35:643–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton MA, Emslie RF, Roddick JC (1994) Detailed emplacement chronology of basic magmas of the mid-Proterozoic Nain plutonic suite, Labrador: insights from U-Pb systematics in zircon and baddeleyite. In: Lanphere MA, Dalrymple GB, Turrin BD (eds) Abstracts of the eighth international conference on geochronology. Cosmochronology, and isotope geology. US Geol Surv Circ.vol 1107, p 124

  • Hamilton MA, Pearson DG, Thompson RN, Kelley SP, Emeleus CH (1998) Rapid eruption of Skye lavas inferred from precise U-Pb and Ar-Ar dating of the Rum and Cuillin plutonic complexes. Nature 394:260–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanchar JM, Watson EB (2003) Zircon saturation thermometry. In: Hanchar JM, Hoskin PWO (eds) Zircon. Rev Mineral Geochem 53:89–112

  • Harrison TM, Schmidt AK (2007) High sensitivity mapping of Ti distributions in Hadean zircons. Earth Planet Sci Lett 261:9–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TM, Aikman A, Holden P, Walker AM, McFarlane C, Rubatto D, Watson EB (2005) Testing the Ti-in-zircon thermometer. Eos Trans AGU, Abstr 86, V41F-1540

  • Harrison TM, Blichert-Toft J, Müller W, Albarede F, Holden P, Mojzsis SJ (2006) Response to comment on “Heterogeneous Hadean hafnium: evidence of continental crust at 4.4 to 4.5 Ga”. Science 312:1139b

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TM, Watson EB, Aikman AB (2007) Temperature spectra of zircon crystallization in plutonic rocks. Geology 35:635–638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayden LA, Watson EB (2007) Rutile saturation in hydrous siliceous melts and its bearing on Ti-thermometry of quartz and zircon. Earth Planet Sci Lett 258:561–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinton RW, Upton BGJ (1991) The chemistry of Zircon––variations within and between large crystals from Syenite and Alkali Basalt Xenoliths. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:3287–3302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann AE, Cavosie AJ, Guan Y, Valley JW, Eiler JM (2007) Sub-micron-scale variations in Ti abundance in zircon. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71(Suppl 1):A411

    Google Scholar 

  • Holden P, Aikman A, Ireland TR, Heiss J (2005) Does Ti record the crystallization temperature of zircon? Eos Trans AGU, Abstr 86, V41F-1539

  • King EM, Valley JW, Davis DW, Edwards GR (1998) Oxygen isotope ratios of Archean plutonic zircons from granite-greenstone belts of the Superior Province: indicator of magmatic source. Precambrian Res 92:365–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lackey JS (2005) The magmatic and alteration history of the Sierra Nevada Batholith as recorded by oxygen isotope ratios of Zircon, Titanite, Garnet, and Quartz. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, pp 1–344

  • Lackey JS, Valley JW, Saleeby JB (2005) Supracrustal input to magmas in the deep crust of Sierra Nevada batholith: evidence from high-δ18O zircon. Earth Planet Sci Lett 235:315–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lackey JS, Valley JW, Hinke HJ (2006) Deciphering the source and contamination history of peraluminous magmas using δ18O of accessory minerals: examples from garnet-bearing granitoids of the Sierra Nevada batholith. Contrib Mineral Petrol 151:20–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llovet X, Salvat F (2006) PENEPMA, A Monte Carlo Code for the simulation of X-ray emission spectra using PENELOPE, Madison WI Workshop Manual (unpublished)

  • Maas R, Kinny PD, Williams IS, Froude DO, Compston W (1992) The Earth’s oldest known crust: a geochronological and geochemical study of 3900–4200 Ma old detrital zircons from Mt. Narryer and Jack Hills, Western Australia. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56:1281–1300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLelland JM, Bickford ME, Hill BM, Clechenko CC, Valley JW, Hamilton MA (2004) Direct dating of Adirondack massif anorthosite by U-Pb SHRIMP analysis of igneous zircon: implications for AMCG complexes. Geol Soc Am Bull 116:1299–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monani S, Valley JW (2001) Oxygen isotope ratios of zircon: magma genesis of low δ18O granites from the British Tertiary Igneous Province, western Scotland. Earth Planet Sci Lett 184:377–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nutman A (2006) Comment on “Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth” II. Science 311:779b

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page FZ, Fu B, Kita NT, Fournelle J, Spicuzza MJ, Schulze DJ, Viljoen F, Basei MAS, Valley JW (2007a) Zircons from kimberlite: new insights from oxygen isotopes, trace element, and Ti in zircon thermometry. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71:3887–3903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page FZ, Ushikubo T, Kita NT, Riciputi LR, Valley JW (2007b) High-precision oxygen isotope analysis of picogram samples reveals 2 μm gradients and slow diffusion in zircon. Am Mineral 92:1772–1775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan Y, Dong P, Chen N (2003) Non-Henry’s Law behavior of REE partitioning between fluorapatite and CaF2-rich melts: Controls of intrinsic vacancies and implications for natural apatites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:1889–1900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peck WH, Valley JW, Wilde SA, Graham CM (2001) Oxygen isotope ratios and rare earth elements in 3.3 to 4.4 Ga zircons: ion microprobe evidence for high δ18O continental crust and oceans in the Early Archean. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:4215–4229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peck WH, Valley JW, Graham CM (2003) Slow oxygen diffusion rates in igneous zircons from metamorphic rocks. Am Mineral 88:1003–1014

    Google Scholar 

  • Pidgeon RT, Furfaro D, Kennedy AK, Nemchin AA, Van Bronswijk W (1994) Calibration of zircon standards for the Curtin SHRIMP II. In: Abstracts 8th international conference on geochronology, cosmochronology, and isotope geology, US Geol Surv Circ. vol 1107, p 251

  • Prowatke S, Klemme S (2006) Rare earth element partitioning between titanite and silicate melts: Henry’s law revisited. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 70:4997–5012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redden JA, Peterman ZE, Zartman RE, DeWitt E (1990) U-Th-Pb geochronology and preliminary interpretation of Precambrian tectonic events in the Black Hills South Dakota. In: Lewry JF, Stauffer MR (eds) The early Proterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen of North America. Geol Assoc Can Spec Pap 37, pp 229–251

  • Ryerson FJ, Watson EB (1987) Rutile saturation in magmas: implications for Ti-Nb-Ta depletion in island-arc basalts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 86:225–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt AK, Vazquez JA (2006) Alteration and remelting of nascent oceanic crust during continental rupture: evidence from zircon geochemistry of rhyolites and xenoliths from the Salton Trough, California. Earth Planet Sci Lett 252:260–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabor RW, Frizzell VA Jr, Whetten JT, Waitt RB, Swanson DA, Byerly GR, Booth DB, Hetherington MJ, Zartman RE (1987) Geologic map of the Chelan 30-minute by 60-minute quadrangle, Washington. US Geol Surv Misc Invest Ser Map I-1661, pp 1–33

  • Taylor DJ, McKeegan KD, Harrison TM, McCulloch M (2007) 176Lu-176Hf in lunar zircons: Identification of an early enriched reservoir on the moon. Lunar Planet Sci XXXVIII:2130

    Google Scholar 

  • Trail D, Mojzsis SJ, Harrison TM, Schmitt AK, Watson EB, Young ED (2007) Constraints on Hadean zircon protoliths from oxygen isotopes, Ti-thermometry, and rare earth elements. Geochem Geophys Geosys 8:Q06014, doi:10.1029/2006GC001449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urusov VS, Dudnikova VB (1998) The trace-component trapping effect: experimental evidence, theoretical interpretation, and geochemical applications. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:1233–1240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ushikubo T, Kita NT, Cavosie AJ, Wilde SA, Rudnick RL, Valley JW (2008) Lithium in Jack Hills zircons: evidence for extreme weathering of Earth's earliest crust. Earth Planet Sci Lett (in review)

  • Valley JW (2003) Oxygen isotopes in zircon. In: Hanchar JM, Hoskin PWO (eds) Zircon. Rev Mineral Geochem 53:343–385

  • Valley JW, Kinny PD, Schulze DJ, Spicuzza MJ (1998) Zircon megacrysts from kimberlite: oxygen isotope heterogeneity among mantle melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 133:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valley JW, Lackey JS, Cavosie AJ, Clechenko CC, Spicuzza MJ, Basei MAS, Bindeman IN, Ferreira VP, Sial AN, King EM, Peck WH, Sinha AK, Wei CS (2005) 4.4 billion years of crustal maturation: oxygen isotope ratios of magmatic zircon. Contrib Mineral and Petrol 150:561–580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valley JW, Cavosie AJ, Fu B, Peck WH, Wilde SA (2006) Comment on “Heterogeneous Hadean Hafnium: Evidence of Continental Growth at 4.4 to 4.5 Ga”. Science 312:1139a

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wark DA, Watson EB (2006) TitaniQ: a titanium-in-quartz geothermometer. Contrib Mineral Petrol 152:743–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB (1985) Henry’s law behavior in simple systems and in magmas: criteria for discerning concentration-dependent partition coefficients in nature. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 49:917–923

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Harrison TM (1983) Zircon saturation revisited: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magma types. Earth Planet Sci Lett 64:295–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Harrison TM (2005) Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth. Science 308:841–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Harrison TM (2006) Response to comments on “Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth”. Science 311:779c

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Wark DA, Thomas JB (2006) Crystallization thermometers for zircon and rutile. Contrib Mineral Petrol 151:413–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiedenbeck M, Hanchar JM, Peck WH, Sylvester P, Valley J, Whitehouse M, Kronz A, Morishita Y, Nasdala L (2004) Further characterization of the 91500 zircon crystal. Geostand Geoanal Res 28:9–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilde SA, Valley JW, Peck WH, Graham CM (2001) Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature 409:175–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wopenka B, Jolliff BL, Zinner E, Kremser DT (1996) Trace element zoning and incipient metamictization in a lunar zircon: application of three microprobe techniques. Am Mineral 81:902–912

    Google Scholar 

  • Zartman RE, Naylor RS (1984) Structural implications of some radiometric ages of igneous rocks in southeastern New England. Geol Soc Am Bull 95:522–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zartman RE, Peterman ZE, Obradovich JD, Gallego MD, Bishop DT (1982) Age of the Crossport C sill near Eastport, Idaho. In: Reid RR, Williams GA (eds) Soc Econ Geol Coeur d’Alene Field Conf Idaho-1977. Idaho Bureau Mines Geol Bull 24:61–69

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Brian Hess for preparation of zircon mounts, and Ilya Bindeman, Mike Hamilton, Liz King, and Robert Zartman for providing some of the zircon separates. Lance Black, Chris Foudoulis and Keith Sircombe provided a rock sample of the Temora gabbroic diorite. Bruce Watson provided a synthetic Ti-rich zircon for standardization of SIMS data. John Craven and Richard Hinton assisted in analysis of Ti in Jack Hills zircons. Doug Morrison and Louise Edwards assisted with MELTs. Constructive reviews by John Eiler and an anonymous referee led to improvement of this manuscript and are gratefully appreciated. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (EAR-0509639), Department of Energy (93ER14389) and NASA Astrobiology Institute (NO7-5489). Wisc-SIMS, the UW Ion Microprobe Lab, is supported by the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the National Science Foundation (EAR-0319230 and EAR-0516725).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John W. Valley.

Additional information

Communicated by T. L. Grove.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

410_2008_281_MOESM1_ESM.xls

Supplementary Materials S1. Ion microprobe analyses of Ti concentrations in zircons from mafic to felsic igneous rocks. All analyses were made with the CAMECA IMS-1280 ion microprobe at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, except the Jack Hills detrital zircons done using a CAMECA IMS-4f at the University of Edinburgh. (XLS 108 kb)

410_2008_281_MOESM2_ESM.xls

Supplementary Materials S2. Electron microprobe analyses of Hf content in zircons from mafic to felsic igneous rocks, Sierra Nevada (cation total = 2, formula) (XLS 72 kb)

Supplementary Materials S3. Whole-rock analysis of major components (wt.%) and Zr (ppm). (XLS 22 kb)

Supplementary Materials S4. Results of MELTs program. (XLS 26 kb)

Appendix : Sample description

Appendix : Sample description

In total, 365 zircons from 45 igneous rock samples including localities in Nain, Adirondack Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Temora, and three well-known zircon standards were analyzed in this study. Detrital zircons from the Jack Hills and zircon xenocrysts from kimberlite were also studied.

Of seven anorthosite-leuconorite samples analyzed for titanium in zircon, four were collected from the Nain Anorthosite Complex, Labrador (Hamilton et al. 1994; Clechenko et al. 2003); three from the Woolen Mill locality, northeastern Marcy anorthosite massif, Adirondack Highlands, New York (McLelland et al. 2004). U-Pb ion microprobe ages of Nain anorthosite are 1,319–1,305 Ma (Hamilton et al. 1994). The Adirondack Mountains AMCG suite (anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-granite) was intruded at 1,155 ± 10 Ma (McLelland et al. 2004), which establishes a coeval (but bimodal) origin for the AMCG suite. The Adirondack Mountains anorthosite was metamorphosed at granulite-facies conditions at about 1,050 Ma (McLelland et al. 2004).

Three samples of gabbro and fine-grained gabbroic dikes in serpentinite were collected from drill core (ODP Leg 153), located at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near the Kane Transform (MARK area) (Cavosie et al. 2005a). Both δ18O and REE distribution pattern indicate that zircons in serpentinite and gabbro are of magmatic origin.

Ten other gabbro samples were investigated from a variety of localities. Metagabbros include the Archean Pike Lake gabbro in Sturgeon Lake and the Kakagi Lake volcanics gabbro pegmatite, Wabigoon Subprovince (Davis et al. 1980, 1985; Davis and Edwards 1982; Davis and Trowell 1982; King et al. 1998); and Paleoproterozoic metagabbro sills at Prairie Creek and Bogus Jim Creek, Central Black Hills, Pennington County in South Dakota (Redden et al. 1990); Mesoproterozoic Woolen Mill metamorphosed ferrogabbro, northeastern Marcy massif, Adirondack Highlands, New York (McLelland et al. 2004); Neoproterozoic Palermo monzogabbro from the Serra do Mar Alkaline-Peralkaline Suite, Brazil (Valley et al. 2005); Cretaceous gabbro-norite in Western Sierra Nevada (Lackey 2005) and metagabbro-metadiorite from the Mount Stuart Batholith, Big Jim Mountain, Washington (Tabor et al. 1987). It is noteworthy that only the granulite-facies Woolen Mill metagabbro also yielded a metamorphic age, ∼100 m.y. younger than the intrusive age, by ion microprobe U-Pb dating (McLelland et al. 2004), while the other metagabbros (or enclosed granophyre, see below) from both the Black Hills and Big Jim Mountain record only intrusive ages (Tabor et al. 1987; Redden et al. 1990).

Six other samples from mafic intrusions include a felsic segregation in gabbro from the Outer Eucrite Series in the Cullins and an alkaline segregation (feldspathic pegmatite) within the margin of the layered mafic/ultramafic complex, Isle of Skye, Scotland (Hamilton et al. 1998; Monani and Valley 2001); a trondhjemite pod within the Silurian Preston gabbro, an unmetamorphosed, stock-like intrusion in Griswold, New London County, Connecticut (Zartman and Naylor 1984); Mesoproterozoic greenish gray, medium-grained granophyre phases within a gabbro sill at the Crossport quarry, Eastport, Boundary County, Idaho (Zartman et al. 1982); and Paleoproterozoic coarse-grained granophyre in the upper part of the Nemo sill (i.e., 1,000-m-thick, gravity differentiated Blue Draw metagabbro), Black Hills, Lawrence County, South Dakota (Redden et al. 1990).

Eleven granitic samples were collected from the central part of the Sierra Nevada batholith, California (Lackey 2005; Lackey et al. 2005, 2006).

Five zircon samples were collected from volcanic rocks: basanite at Chantaburi, Thailand (Lee Silver pers. comm. 2000), and rhyolites from Yellowstone Plateau: Lava Creek Tuff, Mesa Falls Tuff and Huckleberry Ridge Tuff A and C (Bindeman and Valley 2001; Bindeman et al. 2001). One pegmatite sample was collected from the Central Adirondack Highlands, New York which yielded an ion microprobe U-Pb age of ∼900 Ma (Valley et al. 2005).

Ti analyses were made on 42 detrital zircons obtained from quartzite and conglomerate from the Jack Hills, Western Australia with U/Pb ages >3,900 Ma. Additional information on these grains, including field locations, CL images, U/Pb and δ18O, REE data can be found in Cavosie et al. (2004, 2005b, 2006).

In addition, commonly used zircon standards for stable or radiogenic isotopes were assessed for Ti concentration and homogeneity. Zircon CZ3 is a detrital crystal from Sri Lanka (Pidgeon et al. 1994). Zircon 91500 is a megacryst from a titanite-bearing syenitic pegmatite in Ontario (Wiedenbeck et al. 2004). KIM-5 is a megacryst in kimberlite from the Kimberley Pool, South Africa (Valley et al. 1998; Valley 2003; Cavosie et al. 2005b). Temora-1 and Temora-2 are gabbroic diorites from the Lachlan Fold Belt, SE Australia (Black et al. 2004).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fu, B., Page, F.Z., Cavosie, A.J. et al. Ti-in-zircon thermometry: applications and limitations. Contrib Mineral Petrol 156, 197–215 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-008-0281-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-008-0281-5

Keywords

Navigation