An evaluation of the zircon method of isotopic dating in the Southern Arabian Craton
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
By: J.A. Cooper, J. S. Stacey, D.G. Stoeser, and R. J. Fleck
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Abstract
A zircon study has been made on eleven samples of igneous rocks from the Saudi Arabian Craton. Ages of sized and magnetic fractions of zircon concentrates show variable degrees of discordance which seem to result from a very young disturbance that produces linear arrays in the Concordia plot. Model age calculations based on a statistically and geologically reasonable lower intercept produce very consistent internal relationships. The Pan African Orogeny, considered to be responsible for loss of radiogenic argon and strontium from minerals of many rocks, does not appear to have affected the zircon data, even though uplift had exposed the rocks of the Arabian Shield at that time. Tonalite, granodiorite, and crosscutting leucoadamellite bodies in the southern part of the An Nimas Bathylith yield ages in the time range 820-760 Ma. A narrow time range of 660 to 665 million years was indicated for ages of widely separated and compositionally different intrusive bodies all to the east of the An Nimas Bathylith. This work suggests that the younger end of the age spectrum established from regional K-Ar and Rb-Sr measurements may be underestimated, and that magmatic activity could be more episodic than previously assumed.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | An evaluation of the zircon method of isotopic dating in the Southern Arabian Craton |
| Series title | Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology |
| DOI | 10.1007/BF01164527 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Year Published | 1979 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Description | 11 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology |
| First page | 429 |
| Last page | 439 |
| Other Geospatial | Arabian Peninsula |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |