Atomic-scale age resolution of planetary events

Lee F. White; James Darling; D. Moser; D. A. Reinhard; T. J. Prosa; Dean Bullen; D. Olsen; D. J. Larson; D. Lawrence; I. Martin

doi:10.1038/ncomms15597

Atomic-scale age resolution of planetary events

Lee F. White, James Darling, D. Moser, D. A. Reinhard, T. J. Prosa, Dean Bullen, D. Olsen, D. J. Larson, D. Lawrence, I. Martin

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Abstract

Resolving the timing of crustal processes and meteorite impact events is central to understanding the formation, evolution and habitability of planetary bodies. However, identifying multi-stage events from complex planetary materials is highly challenging at the length scales of current isotopic techniques. Here we show that accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains of baddeleyite can be achieved by atom probe tomography. Within individual crystals of highly shocked baddeleyite from the Sudbury impact structure, three discrete nanostructural domains have been isolated yielding average ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 2,436±94Ma (protolith crystallization) from homogenous-Fe domains, 1,852±45Ma (impact) from clustered-Fe domains and 1,412±56Ma (tectonic metamorphism) from planar and subgrain boundary structures. Baddeleyite is a common phase in terrestrial, Martian, Lunar and asteroidal materials, meaning this atomic-scale approach holds great potential in establishing a more accurate chronology of the formation and evolution of planetary crusts.

Original language	English
Article number	15597
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15597
Publication status	Published - 26 May 2017

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Atomic-scalge age resolutionFinal published version, 698 KBLicence: CC BY

Evidence of extensive lunar crust formation in impact melt sheets 4,330 Myr ago
White, L. F., Černok, A., Darling, J., Whitehouse, M. J., Joy, K., Cayron, C., Dunlop, J. N., Tait, K. & Anand, M., 1 Oct 2020, In: Nature Astronomy. 4, 10, p. 974-978 5 p., 0.
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EMMU: Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit
Darling, J. (PI), Dunlop, J. (CoI), Storey, C. (CoI), Coyne, J. (CoI), Chapman, G. (Team Member), Long, G. (Team Member) & Assaf, Y. (Team Member)
1/01/18 → …
Project: Other

Cite this

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title = "Atomic-scale age resolution of planetary events",

abstract = "Resolving the timing of crustal processes and meteorite impact events is central to understanding the formation, evolution and habitability of planetary bodies. However, identifying multi-stage events from complex planetary materials is highly challenging at the length scales of current isotopic techniques. Here we show that accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains of baddeleyite can be achieved by atom probe tomography. Within individual crystals of highly shocked baddeleyite from the Sudbury impact structure, three discrete nanostructural domains have been isolated yielding average 206Pb/238U ages of 2,436±94Ma (protolith crystallization) from homogenous-Fe domains, 1,852±45Ma (impact) from clustered-Fe domains and 1,412±56Ma (tectonic metamorphism) from planar and subgrain boundary structures. Baddeleyite is a common phase in terrestrial, Martian, Lunar and asteroidal materials, meaning this atomic-scale approach holds great potential in establishing a more accurate chronology of the formation and evolution of planetary crusts.",

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language = "English",

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T1 - Atomic-scale age resolution of planetary events

AU - White, Lee F.

AU - Darling, James

AU - Moser, D.

AU - Reinhard, D. A.

AU - Prosa, T. J.

AU - Bullen, Dean

AU - Olsen, D.

AU - Larson, D. J.

AU - Lawrence, D.

AU - Martin, I.

PY - 2017/5/26

Y1 - 2017/5/26

N2 - Resolving the timing of crustal processes and meteorite impact events is central to understanding the formation, evolution and habitability of planetary bodies. However, identifying multi-stage events from complex planetary materials is highly challenging at the length scales of current isotopic techniques. Here we show that accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains of baddeleyite can be achieved by atom probe tomography. Within individual crystals of highly shocked baddeleyite from the Sudbury impact structure, three discrete nanostructural domains have been isolated yielding average 206Pb/238U ages of 2,436±94Ma (protolith crystallization) from homogenous-Fe domains, 1,852±45Ma (impact) from clustered-Fe domains and 1,412±56Ma (tectonic metamorphism) from planar and subgrain boundary structures. Baddeleyite is a common phase in terrestrial, Martian, Lunar and asteroidal materials, meaning this atomic-scale approach holds great potential in establishing a more accurate chronology of the formation and evolution of planetary crusts.

AB - Resolving the timing of crustal processes and meteorite impact events is central to understanding the formation, evolution and habitability of planetary bodies. However, identifying multi-stage events from complex planetary materials is highly challenging at the length scales of current isotopic techniques. Here we show that accurate U-Pb isotopic analysis of nanoscale domains of baddeleyite can be achieved by atom probe tomography. Within individual crystals of highly shocked baddeleyite from the Sudbury impact structure, three discrete nanostructural domains have been isolated yielding average 206Pb/238U ages of 2,436±94Ma (protolith crystallization) from homogenous-Fe domains, 1,852±45Ma (impact) from clustered-Fe domains and 1,412±56Ma (tectonic metamorphism) from planar and subgrain boundary structures. Baddeleyite is a common phase in terrestrial, Martian, Lunar and asteroidal materials, meaning this atomic-scale approach holds great potential in establishing a more accurate chronology of the formation and evolution of planetary crusts.

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M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 8

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 15597

ER -

Atomic-scale age resolution of planetary events

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Research output

Evidence of extensive lunar crust formation in impact melt sheets 4,330 Myr ago

Projects

EMMU: Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit

Cite this