Low temperature thermochronology
Short course
Lecturer: Dr. Alexandre Kounov
e-mail : a.kounov@unibas.ch
Tel.++41612673610
Fax. ++41612673613
Venue:
Institute of Geology and Paleontology
Bernoullistr. 32
Basel 4056
Description
Low Temperature Thermochronology is concerned with the study of the timetemperature history of the shallow levels of the Earth’s crust, where temperatures are
generally between about 25ºC and 300ºC.
In the last years, rapidly expanding interest in shallow-crustal and earth- and planetarysurface processes, have led to significant advances in the techniques, applications, and
interpretations of thermochronometry.
This course will focus attention on Fission–track method and some of its main
applications. The fission-track technique is a very useful tool in the analysis of tectonic
evolution of orogenic belts, including exhumation, unroofing and/or cooling histories,
locating, and determining amount of vertical movement of major faults, and provenance
studies of sedimentary sequences.
Short Introduction will be given also in some other low-temperature techniques ((UTh)/He dating and Cosmogenic nuclides surface exposure dating).
Aim
This short course is aiming to provide skills for using and interpreting the data provided
by fission-track and other low temperature methods. This knowledge will provide
insights into a wide range of geologic problems such as the timing and rates of
development of topographic relief, the architecture and dynamics of orogenic wedges,
and feedbacks between erosion, uplift, and climate at a variety of scales.
Literature:
Wagner, G.A. and Van den Haute, P. (1992). Fission-Track dating. Ferdinand Enke
Verlag, Stuttgart, 285 Seiten.
Gallagher, K., Brown, R. and Johnson, Ch. (1998). Fission track analysis and its
application to geological problems. Annu. Rev. Earth planet Sci., 26, 519-572.
K.A. Farley, (2002). (U-Th)/He dating: Techniques, calibrations, and applications, in:
Noble
Gases
in
Geochemistry
and
Cosmochemistry,
REVIEWS
IN
MINERALOGY & GEOCHEMISTRY 47, pp. 819-844.
Niedermann S. (2002). Cosmic-ray-produced noble gases in terrestrial rocks: dating
tools
for
surface
processes.
Noble
Gases
in
Geochemistry
and
Cosmochemistry, REVIEWS IN MINERALOGY & GEOCHEMISTRY 47, 731784.