• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.255-267
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• 2010

The primary utilization of recently improved (U-Th)/He thermochronometry is to reveal the low-T thermal histories of shallow crustal sections or transient episodes (such as wildfires or meteorite impacts) because of the high sensitivity of He diffusion to temperature in host minerals. In this contribution, we present reviews and perspectives regarding how this method can be used to characterize the ejection-related shock metamorphism of Martian meteorites. The temperature conditions of shock metamorphism can be constrained through shock recovery experiments, paleomagnetism, and $^{40}Ar/^{39}Ar$ and (U-Th)/He dating. The most reliable constraints can be deduced when these independent approaches are combined. However, the thermal history of the ALH84001 Martian meteorite has been under serious debate because the different methods have yielded contrasting results. Recent work has shown how single-grain (U-Th)/He and $^{40}Ar/^{39}Ar$ dating, two noble-gas based thermochronometries with different T sensitivities, can be used to resolve this issue, providing a good example for future research on other meteorites.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.239-247
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• 2014

The (U-Th)/He dating utilizes the production of alpha particles ($^4He$ atoms) during natural radioactive decays of $^{238}U$, $^{235}U$ and $^{232}Th$. (U-Th)/He age can be determined from the abundances of the parent nuclides $^{238}U$, $^{235}U$ and $^{232}Th$ and the radiogenic $^4He$. Because helium is one of the noble gases (non-reactive) with a relatively small radius, it diffuses rapidly in many geological materials, even at low temperatures. Therefore, ingrowth of $^4He$ during radioactive decay competes with diffusive loss at elevated temperatures during the geologic time scale, determining the amount of $^4He$ existing today in natural samples. For example, He diffusion in apatite is known to be very rapid compared to that in most other minerals, causing a significant diffusive loss at ${\sim}80^{\circ}C$ or higher. At ${\sim}40^{\circ}C$, He diffusion in apatite becomes slow enough to preserve most $^4He$ in the sample. Thus, an apatite's (U-Th)/He age represents the timing when the sample passed through the temperature range of $80-40^{\circ}C$. The crustal depth corresponding to this temperature range is called a "partial retention zone." Normal closure temperatures for a typical grain size and cooling rate are ${\sim}60-70^{\circ}C$ for apatite and ${\sim}200^{\circ}C$ for zircon and titanite. Because the apatite He closure temperature is lower than that of most other thermochronometers, it can provide critical constraints on relatively recent or shallow-crustal exhumation histories.