Influence of deformation mechanisms on deformation-induced resetting of radiogenic isotope systems (U-Pb, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd) and homogenization on the grain-scale (TP15)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Rolf Ludwig Romer
• Co-Applicant: Professor Dr. Bernhard Grasemann
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: from 2010 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 22341081

Direct dating deformation processes in metamorphic rocks still remains difficult, though substantial advances in geochronological dating techniques have been made in recent years. In particular in-situ techniques facilitate the correlation of radiometric ages to petrology, and the selection of isotopically homogeneous sample volumes. For incomplete homogenization, ages may diverge from the true age to variable extent. However, isotope heterogeneities do occur at the nano-scale being always smaller than sampling volumes for in-situ dating techniques and can not be avoided. Thus, to obtain reliable and accurate deformation ages, it is essential to understand how deformation processes influence isotopic resetting and over which distances on the mineral grain-scale they act. For this purpose, we will investigate deformed natural rock samples showing microfabrics characteristic for deformation-induced mineral reactions and fluid availability. Our samples from structurally well defined tectonic settings allow the extrapolation from grain-scale to map-scale phenomena. The expected results of this project have important implications for determining the timing, duration and rates of geodynamic processes. Such data are a requirement for the quantitative understanding and modelling continent-scale tectono–metamorphic processes, e.g. burial and exhumation of metamorphic rocks.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 741: Nanoscale Processes and Geomaterials Properties
• International Connection: Austria