Acquisition of a laser extraction system for (U-Th)/He chronometry

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0111875ReinersThis grant provides partial support for acquisition of a laser extraction system for (U-Th)/He chronometry. Laser heating and gas extraction from crystals for (U-Th)/He thermochronometry and geochronometry provides significantly lower He blanks, allows very small aliquots (single crystals) and very young samples to be dated, dramatically increases sample throughput, and allows dating of refractory minerals such as titanite, zircon, and garnet. The laser extraction system will be incorporated into a He mass spectrometry line and (U-Th)/He dating lab at Yale University, which is supported by a new geochemistry lab manager position in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and a new HR-ICP-MS for U-Th determinations. The lab will focus on both experimental development of new (U-Th)/He approaches and applications, as well as routinely providing low-temperature cooling ages for establishing the timing and rates of tectonic and geomorphologic processes and dating of volcanic rocks. The laser extraction system will be a critical component of this lab, both because of its ability to provide relatively rapid, low-blank, He extraction from a wide variety of minerals for experimental and methodological studies, as well as its ability to process large numbers of routine samples for collaborative research projects (primarily apatite, titanite, and zircon He ages for tectonic studies).***