Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study

We report the results of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) study of the annealing of a metamict Sri Lankan zircon. Raman measurements on most chips of the powdered zircon starting material, Sri Lankan zircon (WZ19), showed no evidence of a crystalline structure, whereas a few chips retained...

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Main Authors: Pidgeon, Robert, Chapman, P., Danišík, Martin, Nemchin, Alexander
Format: Journal Article
Published: Mineralogical Society of America 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53135
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author Pidgeon, Robert
Chapman, P.
Danišík, Martin
Nemchin, Alexander
author_facet Pidgeon, Robert
Chapman, P.
Danišík, Martin
Nemchin, Alexander
author_sort Pidgeon, Robert
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We report the results of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) study of the annealing of a metamict Sri Lankan zircon. Raman measurements on most chips of the powdered zircon starting material, Sri Lankan zircon (WZ19), showed no evidence of a crystalline structure, whereas a few chips retained residual Raman bands typical of highly radiation damaged zircon. DSC runs on aliquots of the powdered sample were heated to 850 and 1000 °C at rates of 2 and 10 °C/min and to 1500 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the crystallinity of grains at selected temperature stages. Exothermal peaks were observed at about 910 and 1260 °C during the DSC run to 1500 °C. The 910 °C peak was demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy to mark the crystallization of tetragonal zirconia and the exothermic peak at about 1260 °C was demonstrated to represent the reaction of zirconia and amorphous silica to form crystalline zircon. The degree of crystallinity of these grains was almost identical to that of highly crystalline zircons from recent gem gravels from New South Wales. A small number of experimental chips from DSC analyses under 1000 °C were found to have zircon Raman bands that indicated they had undergone partial annealing. The present experimental results suggest that reconstitution of amorphous zircon to the crystalline state by dry annealing will rarely occur in terrestrial geological settings, even under extreme metamorphic conditions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-531352018-09-28T03:38:18Z Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study Pidgeon, Robert Chapman, P. Danišík, Martin Nemchin, Alexander We report the results of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) study of the annealing of a metamict Sri Lankan zircon. Raman measurements on most chips of the powdered zircon starting material, Sri Lankan zircon (WZ19), showed no evidence of a crystalline structure, whereas a few chips retained residual Raman bands typical of highly radiation damaged zircon. DSC runs on aliquots of the powdered sample were heated to 850 and 1000 °C at rates of 2 and 10 °C/min and to 1500 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the crystallinity of grains at selected temperature stages. Exothermal peaks were observed at about 910 and 1260 °C during the DSC run to 1500 °C. The 910 °C peak was demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy to mark the crystallization of tetragonal zirconia and the exothermic peak at about 1260 °C was demonstrated to represent the reaction of zirconia and amorphous silica to form crystalline zircon. The degree of crystallinity of these grains was almost identical to that of highly crystalline zircons from recent gem gravels from New South Wales. A small number of experimental chips from DSC analyses under 1000 °C were found to have zircon Raman bands that indicated they had undergone partial annealing. The present experimental results suggest that reconstitution of amorphous zircon to the crystalline state by dry annealing will rarely occur in terrestrial geological settings, even under extreme metamorphic conditions. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53135 10.2138/am-2017-5901 Mineralogical Society of America restricted
spellingShingle Pidgeon, Robert
Chapman, P.
Danišík, Martin
Nemchin, Alexander
Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title_full Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title_fullStr Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title_full_unstemmed Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title_short Dry annealing of metamict zircon: A differential scanning calorimetry study
title_sort dry annealing of metamict zircon: a differential scanning calorimetry study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53135