AGN Webinar 4: Taking the pulse of Earth’s Lithosphere through two decades of geochemical developments at Macquarie University
Join Macquarie Geoanalytical for a 25 year recap of TerraneChron.
In the AGN’s fourth webinar in the series we heard from the Macquarie University GeoAnalytical (MQGA) team as they discussed their evolution in analytical capabilities over the past 25 years and the development of the TerraneChron methodology.
Evolution of a geochemical tech boom
In their webinar Olivier Alard, Dr Yoann Greau, Prof Sue O’Reilly and Ms Lauren Gorojovsky of Macquarie GeoAnalytical (MQGA) discuss their full suite of facilities built up to fulfil the vision of providing spatially controlled high-resolution analysis and imaging of trace elements and isotopic abundances in situ. This vision and approach was pioneered 25 years ago and developed benchmark technology that has enabled the development of laser-sampled, spatially resolved in situ analytical methodology milestones in GEMOC, including U-Pb and Lu-Hf in zircons by laser ablation from the late 90s.
From the early 2000s GLITTER, a real time interactive interface that simplifies and enhances data reduction, made an impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of sampling. Suddenly geoscientists could now reliably analyse a large volume of samples for a fraction of the time and cost of conventional methods. These new tools profoundly reshaped the world of geochronology across academia and the exploration industries.
Building on this, TerraneChron® technology was developed in 2000. A powerful suite of geoanalytical tools that give geoscientists the ability to rapidly and cost effectively virtually map rock types, identify tectonic events, date magmatic episodes, fingerprint crustal activity and evaluate metallogenic potential. One area in which it has excelled is in its application to weathered samples in inaccessible and difficult regions. After two decades of operation around 100000 zircon analyses have been collected across Australia and around the globe, which has been a tremendous addition to the AGN AusGeochem platform.
MQGA expanded
Yet, MQGA is not only about zircons over the years MQGA has developed a range of in situ dating methods using various isotopes systems and minerals, always with the common approach of preserving microstructural information and integrating diverse geochemical data for a more in-depth interpretation of the ages. Recent developments include simultaneous Re-Os and PGE measurements in sulfides using LASS-MC-ICPMS; in situ Rb-Sr dating using ICP-MS/MS allowing to date and fingerprint percolation-reaction of fluids and magmas through the crust, bringing a newer vision of the mobility of economic and strategic elements across the earth reservoirs. See this recent article on these new in-situ techniques.
You can watch the webinar in full here
AUTHOR
Hayden Dalton