Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia
Detrital zircon geochronology is a powerful tool to address a range of geological questions related to sedimentary provenance. Nonetheless, non-unique answers may result when igneous rocks of the same age are sourced from disparate locations. In an effort to resolve some of this issue in zircon prov...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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John Wiley and Sons
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66704 |
| _version_ | 1848761369619333120 |
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| author | Makuluni, P. Kirkland, Chris Barham, Milo |
| author_facet | Makuluni, P. Kirkland, Chris Barham, Milo |
| author_sort | Makuluni, P. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Detrital zircon geochronology is a powerful tool to address a range of geological questions related to sedimentary provenance. Nonetheless, non-unique answers may result when igneous rocks of the same age are sourced from disparate locations. In an effort to resolve some of this issue in zircon provenance investigations, we explore the potential of detrital zircon grains to be linked to their original magmatic source through their grain shape. In order to develop this grain shape measure as a provenance tool, we first examine the relationships between chemistry and a range of different grain shape descriptors. We find grain shape to show a linear relationship to U-concentration on a lithologic unit level. We interpret this relationship to be a function of crystal chemical control in igneous samples. Principal component analysis demonstrates the potential of simple grain shape descriptors (major axis, minor axis, and effective diameter) to characterize grains from particular rock units. Applying these same shape measures to sedimentary basins in the Proterozoic Albany-Fraser Orogen in southwest Australia allows us to closely replicate the findings of previous traditional U-Pb geochronological investigations in terms of grain provenance. In addition, we apply this technique to Mesozoic sediment on the southern margin of Australia and show for the first time that its detritus is more likely derived from the underlying crystalline basement rather than surrounding orogens that share similar magmatic ages. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:30:35Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-66704 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:30:35Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | John Wiley and Sons |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-667042019-05-06T00:11:52Z Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia Makuluni, P. Kirkland, Chris Barham, Milo Detrital zircon geochronology is a powerful tool to address a range of geological questions related to sedimentary provenance. Nonetheless, non-unique answers may result when igneous rocks of the same age are sourced from disparate locations. In an effort to resolve some of this issue in zircon provenance investigations, we explore the potential of detrital zircon grains to be linked to their original magmatic source through their grain shape. In order to develop this grain shape measure as a provenance tool, we first examine the relationships between chemistry and a range of different grain shape descriptors. We find grain shape to show a linear relationship to U-concentration on a lithologic unit level. We interpret this relationship to be a function of crystal chemical control in igneous samples. Principal component analysis demonstrates the potential of simple grain shape descriptors (major axis, minor axis, and effective diameter) to characterize grains from particular rock units. Applying these same shape measures to sedimentary basins in the Proterozoic Albany-Fraser Orogen in southwest Australia allows us to closely replicate the findings of previous traditional U-Pb geochronological investigations in terms of grain provenance. In addition, we apply this technique to Mesozoic sediment on the southern margin of Australia and show for the first time that its detritus is more likely derived from the underlying crystalline basement rather than surrounding orogens that share similar magmatic ages. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66704 10.1002/gj.3225 John Wiley and Sons fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Makuluni, P. Kirkland, Chris Barham, Milo Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title | Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title_full | Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title_fullStr | Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title_short | Zircon grain shape holds provenance information: A case study from southwestern Australia |
| title_sort | zircon grain shape holds provenance information: a case study from southwestern australia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66704 |