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Sedimentary Geology 124 (1999) 3145

Present status and future avenues of source region discrimination and characterization using ssion track analysis
A. Carter *
Research School of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Birkbeck College and University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK Received 1 October 1997; accepted 14 July 1998

Abstract Amongst the various dating methods available for use in sediment provenance studies there exists a wide range (60 900C) of temperature stability elds that can be used to record different geological processes. The adoption of a particular geochronological method for use in the study of provenance requires selecting a technique and mineral phase that have a thermal stability range suited to the type of provenance information required. This paper describes the unique provenance applications of the low temperature (60320C) ssion track (FT) method. Apatite ssion track data can monitor changes in the thermal regime of the upper 35 km of crust and are therefore particularly sensitive to cycles of burial, tectonic and erosive denudation. Provenance applications include dating source, estimating source denudation rates, detecting changes in tectonic processes, constraining models of thermal evolution at the depositional site and reconstructing eroded sections. Future detrital apatite FT applications should concentrate on improving resolution of the temporal relationships between source evolution and sedimentation in adjacent basins. A small study from the Hebrides Basin, western Scotland is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of adopting such an approach. The range of applications for detrital zircon FT data is more restricted due primarily to difculties interpreting a detrital zircon age because of possible metamorphic resetting. Common applications that avoid these uncertainties include dating source, determination of source denudation rates and constraining the age of biostratigraphically barren sediments. In the future, interpretative difculties may be overcome by adopting a dual approach to zircon dating using both UPb and FT methods. 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: ssion track analysis; provenance; dating; denudation

1. Introduction The importance of detrital geochronological data to provenance studies is illustrated by the wide range of applications within the literature; e.g. tracing source area (Kelley and Bluck, 1989); reconstructing topographic relief (Stock and Montgomery, 1996), constraining palaeogeographic models (von Eynatten et al., 1996), reconstructing the palaeogeog Fax:

C44 171 813 2802; E-mail: a.carter@ucl.ac.uk

raphy of displaced terrains (Gehrels et al., 1995) and interpreting rocks where the petrology indicates derivation from lithologically diverse sources (Morton et al., 1996; Gray and Zeitler, 1997). Within the wider framework of sedimentary provenance studies, radiometric data is best used alongside other geological methods (petrography, mineralogy, geochemistry and sedimentology) to develop the most complete picture as to the location and characteristics of source. Studies that fail to integrate data from a variety of disciplines are open to the effects of

0037-0738/99/$ see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 7 - 0 7 3 8 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 1 9 - 5

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Table 1 Selection of single grain dating methods that can be used in sedimentary provenance studies Dating method Mineral Temperature range (C) below which isotopic system becomes effectively stable 800900 500600 500600 500600 500 300400 250350 200300 200320 150300 60110

U=Th=Pb Rb=Sr U=Th=Pb 40 Ar=39 Ar U=Pb 40 Ar=39 Ar Rb=Sr 40 Ar=39 Ar Fission Track 40 Ar=39 Ar Fission Track

Zircon Amphibole Monazite Amphibole Apatite Muscovite Biotite Biotite Zircon K-feldspar Apatite

The third column lists the approximate resetting temperatures as a guide only. Note that for many mineral=isotopic systems (e.g Rb=Sr and 40 Ar=39 Ar) these values can vary considerably depending on the mineral structure, grain size and past cooling rates.

distortion and bias arising from diagenesis, climate, sediment recycling, and changing geology associated with increased levels of erosion. Detrital grain age data can be useful in constraining some of these, for example, the evolution in denudation history of source region (Cerveny et al., 1988; Corrigan and Crowley, 1990); weathering and diagenesis during sedimentation (Morton et al., 1996). Amongst the various dating methods (Table 1, ssion track analysis, UPb-Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe or SHRIMP, KAr, 40 Ar39 Ar laser probe and RbSr) used in provenance studies, single grain UPb dating has probably experienced the most growth in recent years. This is due to the high degree of precision achieved on single grain ages and a comparatively stable isotopic system that preserves the formation age. This latter aspect is particularly relevant given the complexity in dening resetting temperatures for the RbSr, KAr and ArAr systems due to variable isotope diffusion, cooling rates and grain size (e.g. Hames and Bowring, 1994; Jenkins et al., 1995; Dahl, 1996). However, selection of a dating method and mineral system to use in a provenance study is not simply a case of choosing the most precise stable method. Other factors warrant consideration depending on the type of information required.

Isotopic ages are a function of thermal history. According to the technique used and the level of its thermal sensitivity, a mineral age will relate to either formation, metamorphic resetting, post- metamorphic cooling or denudation. Therefore, selection of a mineral(s) and dating system(s) to use in a provenance study requires targeting particular temperature intervals relevant to the geological setting, cooling processes and provenance questions being asked. Dating systems associated with low temperature stability elds such as ssion track (FT), are susceptible to resetting and are therefore generally not suited to dating sensu stricto. Instead, a high level of temperature sensitivity can be ideal for recording changes in temperature over shallow crustal depths (typically <510 km, i.e. the brittle crust) where there is a low degree of thermal stability due to cycles of burial, erosive and tectonic denudation. In contrast, high temperature (300900C) dating methods (KAr, ArAr, RbSr and UPb), which are generally less sensitive to cycles of erosion and deposition, are better suited to recording cooling from primary crystallization, tectonism and metamorphism. A further aspect to consider when selecting a dating method is the geological setting and the control it may exert on crustal cooling. In regions where rates of cooling are moderate to low, such as passive or basin margins and continental interiors, the variation in ages obtained by different dating methods, and=or mineral phases and the range of processes that they are recording, are at their greatest. Thus, slow to moderate denudation rates (<50300 m=Ma) can lead to a substantial time lag between the time low and high temperature mineral phases pass through their respective temperature stability zones. In contrast, where denudation rates are high (>300 m=Ma) such as in orogenic settings, differences between ages obtained using different dating systems may converge or be unresolvable. Under these conditions rock from both the brittle and ductile regions of the crust may be cooled, eroded, transported and reburied within a time frame unresolvable by radiometric dating. Therefore, it is important when undertaking a provenance study not only to select a dating method(s) relevant to the provenance questions being addressed, but also to consider the geological setting and probable cooling mechanisms (crystallization, erosive or tectonic denudation).

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Amongst the range of geochronological techniques used in provenance studies FT analysis has the highest level of temperature sensitivity that enables the method to provide unique thermal history data. Apatite and zircon FT data relate to the low temperature history of a host rock (60320C for time scales of 106 108 years; Laslett et al., 1987; Yamada et al., 1995; Laslett and Galbraith, 1996; Tagami et al., 1998) and are therefore ideally suited to record the cooling effects of processes (burial, erosive and tectonic denudation) that operate in the upper (brittle) crust. The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of FT analysis in provenance studies using examples to illustrate the wide range of geological settings to which the method can be applied. 1.1. Principles of the FT method Fission-track analysis is a uranium-based geochronometric method that is dependent on data obtained from a population of single grains and is therefore suited to dating detrital minerals. This application was rst recognized by Gleadow and Lovering (1974), and a succession of provenance related FT papers have been published over the last two decades (e.g. Duddy et al., 1984; Cerveny et al., 1988; Hurford and Carter, 1991 and references therein; Corrigan and Crowley, 1992; Garver and Brandon, 1994a; George and Hegarty, 1995; Carter et al., 1995; Rohrman et al., 1996; Tagami and Dumitru, 1996; Clift et al., 1996, 1997; Mitchell, 1997). The method is based on quantifying the amount of natural decay of uranium by spontaneous ssion a process that creates zones of linear damage (ssion tracks) in the host crystal lattice. There are two components to a set of FT data; the measured age and the track length distribution. An age derives from an observable density of natural spontaneous tracks that is controlled by uranium concentration, duration of track accumulation and length of tracks. Tracks are semi-stable features that respond to elevated temperatures by progressive length shortening causing partial age resetting, hence track lengths are the key to understanding a samples temperature history. Because all tracks have the same initial length (16 m in apatite and 11 m in zircon) and form continuously, individual tracks will experience differing proportions of a samples thermal history the summation

of which is recorded by the track length distribution, the second component in an FT data-set. Detailed summaries of FT methodology, can be found in: Hurford and Carter (1991); Wagner and Van den Haute (1992) and references therein; Brown et al. (1994). Deciphering a set of FT data in terms of the thermal history that produced the observed age and track length distribution is dependant upon understanding the behaviour of tracks at elevated temperatures. Laboratory based annealing experiments and geological observations for the two minerals in most common use (apatite and zircon) produced quantitative annealing models (for certain compositions) that have been incorporated into data driven modelling programs (e.g. Gallagher, 1995). Published apatite annealing models (Laslett et al., 1987; Laslett and Galbraith, 1996) and zircon models (Yamada et al., 1995; Tagami et al., 1998) show that for durations of heating lasting 106 108 years, track shortening occurs between 60110C and 200320C, respectively. These temperature ranges, often referred to as partial annealing zones or PAZ, dene the boundary isotherms below which tracks are effectively stable (minimal length reduction) and above which tracks are totally annealed (a zero, totally reset age). A track length distribution is therefore a measure of the time spent within and below the PAZ. Statistically robust modelling procedures are essential for extracting the time=temperature information from a set of FT age and length data. Whilst such procedures constrain the timetemperature paths taken by samples through the PAZ they cannot resolve variable temperature histories below and above the PAZ. Thermal histories obtained by modelling are only as accurate as the predictive model. For apatite, current temperature resolution (within the PAZ) is 510C. This may improve in the future as more annealing data (laboratory and geological time scales) are used with mineral composition, improved algorithm construction techniques and larger FT data-sets. Conventional FT data consist of 20 single grain ages for which a central (weighted mean) age is calculated and a track length distribution based ideally on 100 measurements. This level of data is generally inadequate for provenance purposes as detrital grains extracted from a single sedimentary sample may derive from multiple sources, each with potentially different cooling histories. Therefore, large

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Fig. 1. A radial plot (Galbraith, 1990), of a mixed population (P 2 D 0%, R.E. 23%) of 70 detrital apatite grain ages, from the mid Jurassic sediments of Skye, that dene a central age (solid line on plot) of 321 12 Ma. The position of the x -scale records the uncertainty of individual age estimates, whilst each point has the same standard error on the y -scale (illustrated as 2 ). The further the data point plots from the origin, the more precise the measurement. The age of each crystal may be determined by extrapolating a line from the origin on the left through the crystals x ; y co-ordinates to intercept the radial age scale. Statistical analysis of the mixed data identify three source age components. Grains belonging to the dominant mode (58 grains, central age 320 10 Ma, P 2 D 10%, R.E. 11%), shown as black dots, were used to extract the track length distribution. Grains belonging to the two minor source modes (open circles) have central ages (dashed lines) at 557 48 Ma and 206 12 Ma.

numbers (50100) of grains need to be counted (the probability of not detecting an age component using 100 grains is 3%, Dodson et al., 1988) to identify and extract the principal age modes together with their individual track length distributions. Radial plots (Fig. 1; Galbraith, 1990) are used to visualize the distribution of heterogeneous populations of detrital grain ages and errors, but statistical analysis of the pooled data is needed to accurately resolve the component ages. Methods used include; simple peak identication on grain age probability distributions (Hurford et al., 1984); more complex peak tting methods used to decompose grain age distributions into component Gaussian distributions (Brandon, 1992) or, Poissonian models and goodness of t (Galbraith and Green, 1990). Several of these methods have been adapted to form a statistical approach for the analysis of SHRIMP and FT data (Sambridge and Compston, 1994). Based on mixture modelling, several competing methods are used to derive most likely ages, their proportions and number of distinct components. Once individual age components have been identied length distributions can be obtained for each component (subject to sufcient grains being available) enabling modelling

of each component and the production of individual source thermal histories.

2. FT provenance applications The usefulness of apatite and zircon in an FT provenance study depends on the type of information being sought (e.g. formation age, thermal history, denudation rates) and the temperatures to which they relate. For the purposes of highlighting the different geological processes to which detrital apatite and zircon FT data are particularly sensitive, the following section discusses the uses of each mineral separately, although in practice it often proves benecial to use data from both methods. 2.1. Applications using detrital apatite ssion-track data For a successful detrital apatite FT study there are two preconditions. First, access to suitable apatitebearing rocks. Apatite is susceptible to both physical and chemical attack during burial, erosion and transportation (Morton, 1984; Morton and Hallsworth,

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1994) and may be absent from a sediment derived from a source known to contain apatite. Second, it is essential to know the approximate level of postdepositional heating since minor levels of shallow burial may cause track annealing that can modify and even remove the original source thermal record. Ideally, a sample should not have experienced postdepositional temperatures above 50C, equivalent to 12 km of burial based on the global average geothermal gradient of 2730C km 1 ; Allen and Allen (1990), although Rohrman et al. (1996) suggest that small amounts of annealing (70C) do not signicantly perturb the original provenance signature. Partly because of such temperature restrictions many published detrital apatite FT studies have been on samples from ODP drill sites where sedimentation rates are low and post depositional thermal histories are well constrained (e.g. Duddy et al., 1984; Corrigan and Crowley, 1990; Vrolijk et al., 1992; George and Hegarty, 1995; Clift et al., 1996, 1997). Conventionally, in provenance studies detrital apatite data have been used to understand thermal evolution of source and the processes controlling it. This is only possible where post-depositional heating has not reached levels sufcient to remove the inherited signature. Thus a preserved detrital FT record can be used to constrain the thermal conditions (in that burial temperatures never exceeded 60C) at the depositional site. At ODP drill sites on the transform margin off the West coast of Africa (Clift et al., 1997) the presence of preserved source cooling histories in detrital apatites were used to delimit the level of post-depositional heating associated with ridge-transform intersection. The amount of heating constrained by the FT data was signicantly lower than values predicted by previous theoretical heat conduction models and led to a revised model incorporating additional geological constraints. The preserved thermal history data also showed that ridgetransform intersection did not perturb denudation of the sediment source region. Few studies have used detrital apatite data in this manner; the majority of applications have been concerned with extracting source cooling histories from the detrital record and relating them to the underlying processes that govern the tectonothermal evolution of a particular source. Central to the formulation of models describing the evolution of a source terrain, whether in a sta-

ble craton, passive margin or orogenic setting, is the ability to monitor and date changes in the tectonic regime. FT analysis provides the ideal means for detecting such changes which are reected by shifts in the thermal state as crustal section is lost (and occasionally added). In most geological settings, cooling histories obtained from apatite FT data are a consequence of denudation which can be governed by different processes. In a tectonically passive environment erosion will tend to dominate, although a minor tectonothermal process may have initiated denudation. In orogenic settings surface uplift (upward movement of the Earths surface with respect to the geoid) may be causing both erosional and tectonic denudation and under certain conditions it is possible to resolve the underlying tectonic uplift using a backstacking approach (Brown, 1991) to remove the denudation and isostatic rebound components. One of the rst studies to use detrital apatite FT cooling data to constrain source denudation rates (Corrigan and Crowley, 1990) employed ODP cores from the central Indian Ocean. Using the time difference between apatite ages which were unaffected by post- depositional heating, and sample depositional age to infer high rates of erosion and transport, it was possible to estimate source denudation rates of 300 m=Ma. Such rates are comparable to values from the Himalayas considered as the most likely source area. A more recent study, again with ODP cores, used detrital apatite data from the East Greenland passive margin (Clift et al., 1996) to suggest that large magnitude post-rift denudation was localized and centred on the Kangerdlussuq region in association with the passing Iceland plume. This study was possible due to the moderate rates of regional denudation associated with a passive margin setting and because the detrital apatites had not undergone post-depositional annealing and extensive mixing during transport. In an orogenic or tectonic setting interpretation of ssion track data becomes more difcult especially with regard to the effects of high relief. A common problem is caused by source mixing within large scale drainage systems that can give a misleading picture of source denudation rates if the time lag approach is used. Estimating denudation can also be problematic due to advection of geotherms (Stu we et al., 1994; Brown and Summereld, 1997) caused by high rates of denudation (which are characteristic

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of orogenic and tectonic settings). More importantly, from the perspective of monitoring changing processes, high rates of denudation can remove from a source important information relating to the initial stages of its tectonothermal evolution, and without such data it is difcult to formulate models that accurately describe the processes operating during the evolution of mountain belts. The detrital record may therefore be the key to reconstructing these early stages and detrital apatite FT data provide the ideal means of extracting such information. In a recent study Lonergan and Johnson (1998) used detrital FT data from within a syn-orogenic foreland basin in the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain to determine the timing of unroong of different tectonic units. By combining detrital FT and heavy mineral data they were able to demonstrate that a phase of extension initiated during the early Miocene was accompanied by a change from erosional to tectonic denudation. More detailed characterization of source evolution can be obtained by observing the changes in apatite FT age and length parameters through a sedimentary section. In general decreasing stratigraphic age corresponds to greater depths of erosion. The hypothetical example given in Fig. 2AD illustrate such changes and show how useful information can be extracted. In Fig. 2A an initial phase of rapid erosion at 50 Ma, perhaps caused by dynamic uplift driven by a density contrast arising from igneous underplating, has relocated an apatite PAZ to a crustal level where track annealing is no longer taking place. The cycle of erosion and rebound (Fig. 2B) continues through time leading to the exhumation of the apatite ssion track fossil PAZ. A record of the eroded crustal section is contained at the depositional site in the detrital apatite FT record (Fig. 2C). Plots (Fig. 2D) of the detrital FT data describe the evolution in FT age and length with increased levels of track annealing (equivalent to erosion from greater depths with respect to the PAZ). These diagrams, often referred to as boomerang or banana plots may also contain, depending on the depth of erosion, the time

of initiation of erosion=cooling which in Fig. 2D is represented by the reset ages and long mean track lengths at 50 Ma. An additional diagnostic parameter is the track length distribution which changes in form according to location on the boomerang plot. For a more detailed explanation of trends in track length distribution the reader is referred to Brown et al. (1994) and Johnson et al. (1997). The cartoons in Fig. 2 are oversimplied, especially in relation to orogenic settings where high rates of denudation can remove large sections of the crust causing very rapid cooling. Detrital apatites from these sources will give a distinct signature on boomerang plots in the form of a single cluster of ages and long mean track lengths. Another oversimplication concerns the natural mixing of apatite grains during transport which can cause a signicant spread of component ages, i.e. apatites from different crustal depths. In such cases the youngest detrital age mode represents the most recently exhumed source because it must have been derived from greater crustal depths within the source than the older age modes (Fig. 2B,D). But, this will only apply to conditions where the source isotherms are near-horizontal and particle pathways are vertical which may not be the case in an orogenic setting. Currently, most detrital apatite FT studies have concentrated on using cooling data extracted from the depositional site to understand source evolution. Few studies have compared thermal history data from both the source and depositional site. One such study by Rohrman et al. (1996) compared thermal history signatures of detrital apatites from offshore southern Norway with data from the probable source region onshore. Using a simple backstacking approach Rohrman et al. (1996) reconstructed cooling histories for the eroded sections of the source region. The results demonstrated a clear link between Mesozoic and Tertiary onshore cooling and offshore sedimentation rates and revealed that there must have been an extensive cover of Cretaceous sediments across southern Norway. Clearly, such

Fig. 2. (A) Cartoon to illustrate how the detrital FT record contained within a depositional site reects the tectonothermal evolution of source. In (A), an initial erosional phase at 50 Ma relocates the apatite partial annealing zone (PAZ). In (B) the PAZ is further exhumed by enhanced erosion which continues to the present day. The sedimentary record (C) contains an inverted FT stratigraphy. The boomerang plot in (D) charts the evolution of FT age and length with increased erosion and records the time of initial erosion at 50 Ma.

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studies can greatly improve the resolution of source evolution and future apatite FT provenance studies should concentrate in this area. Furthermore, by deriving thermal history information directly from both source and eroded sections, more robust mass balance estimates can be made concerning the long term relationships between source and basin inll. These will help to reduce the uncertainties attached to conventional backstacking methods that are subject to the effects of changing clastic transport directions, chemical dissolution, tectonic denudation and localized basin inversions. The following section uses apatite FT data from the Isle of Skye, western Scotland

to demonstrate how apatite data collected from both source and basin can be used to enhance understanding of the relationship between basin development and source. 2.2. A case history from Skye The Jurassic sedimentary rocks of eastern Skye, NW Scotland, belong to the Hebrides Basin that developed as a consequence of rifting associated with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Within the basin seven major sequences are recognized (Morton, 1987) of which the mid-Jurassic Bear-

Fig. 3. Published apatite FT central ages from northern Scotland and Western Isles. A detrital sample (labelled B) collected from Skye is comparable in age to samples from the mainland, the most likely source region. Relatively old central ages are indicative of long term residence at shallow crustal levels.

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reraig sandstone Formation (AalenianBajocian) is noteworthy as it is considered to represent a major change in regional tectonics accompanied by hinterland uplift as evidenced by an inux of siliclastics. Palaeocurrent directions for the Bearreraig Formation are from the north to northeast which, together with detrital mineral studies of the mid-Jurassic (Hudson, 1964; Harris, 1992), indicate derivation from the present day Scottish mainland. The nature of the proposed hinterland uplift and its relationship to the rapid inux of detritus can be explored using apatite FT data collected from the likely source region and comparing it with detrital data collected from the depositional site. A 3 kg sample for FT analysis was collected from the Bearreraig Formation, Berreraig Bay, eastern Skye (Fig. 3) and apatite extracted using standard heavy mineral procedures. Evidence that this locality has not experienced heating >50C since deposition can be found as preserved aragonite in fossils and published organic geochemistry data (Thrasher, 1992). The detrital apatites will therefore contain a preserved record of their original source thermal history. Data from the likely source region on the adjacent Scottish mainland have already been published (Lewis et al., 1992), although interpretation predated the arrival of robust probabilistic modelling programs used to extract thermal histories. For the purposes of this study the data were remodelled using the approach of Gallagher (1995). The sample from Bearreraig yielded seventy dateable apatite grains. The pooled age and length data are given in Table 2 and displayed in Fig. 1 together with the track length distribution. Statistics for this sample show that the central age of 321 12 Ma comprises a mixed population of grain ages. ExamTable 2 Fission track apatite analytical data for sample from Bearreraig Sample no. SKY 308 No. of grains 70 d 1.389 nd 9625 s 2.243 ns 5219 i 1.662 ni 3868 P 0

ination of the principal age components using the method of Sambridge and Compston (1994) indicate that the grain age heterogeneity is caused by two minor age modes (557 48 Ma and 206 12 Ma) each containing only six grains (Fig. 1). The majority of grain ages (58), and therefore the dominant source, belongs to a single mode that has a central age of 320 10 Ma. The length distribution obtained from grains belonging to this component is unimodal with a slight negative skew which is characteristic of a simple cooling history. The mean length at 12.14 m is signicantly shorter than an unannealed distribution (14.515 m) hence the central age is an apparent or mixed age. The proportion of short tracks to full length tracks is high which suggests, qualitatively, that the sample cooled below 60C comparatively recently with respect to the measured age. The age and mean track length of the detrital sample is comparable with outcrop samples from the source region and therefore plots of age against mean track length will not provide any useful information. Further resolution of the cooling history was obtained by modelling. Fig. 4 displays modelled cooling paths for the Bearreraig sample (Sky 308) and representative basement samples from the Scottish mainland (Scot 171 and 166) taken from Lewis et al. (1992). The best t timetemperature paths for Scot 171 and Skye 308 are remarkably similar and both show a simple two stage cooling history. The initial stage, which began in the Lower Palaeozoic and ended in the uppermost Triassic, records a slow steady rate of cooling at 0.08C=Ma. During the second stage that began during the early Jurassic cooling rates increased to 3C=Ma. The cooling data were converted into denudation rates using a constant

R.E. (%) 22.8

Central age (Ma) 321 12

Mean track length (m) 12.14 0.15

S.d. (m) 1.57

No. of track lengths 105

d, s and i are the dosimeter, natural spontaneous and induced track densities ( 106 tr cm 2 ). nd, ns and ni are the total numbers of tracks counted. Analyses by external detector method using 0.5 for the 4=2 geometry correction factor. Ages calculated using dosimeter glass CN-5 (apatite); analyst Carter CN 5 D 339 5 calibrated by multiple analyses of IUGS apatite and zircon age standards. P 2 is probability for obtaining 2 value for v degrees of freedom, where v D no. crystals 1. Central age is a modal age, weighted for different precisions of individual crystals. R.E. is the relative error or % age dispersion about the central age.

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the Early Jurassic denudation rate to the modelled (Fig. 4) time interval between onset of rapid cooling (200 Ma) and deposition of the sample (between 178166 Ma) yields a loss of source crustal section between 30004000 m. The detrital apatites therefore record a phase of enhanced denudation that correlates with the onset of subsidence and rifting associated with formation of the Hebrides Basin at 200 Ma (Morton, 1989, 1992). This erosion-driven cooling continued at a steady rate. There is no evidence from across the source region for an increase in cooling during AalenianBajocian times, linked to the rapid inux of siliclastics that comprise the Bearreraig Formation. The siliclastics were more likely linked to small scale local effects such as changes in base level associated with local faulting or changes in drainage patterns and exposed lithology. Thus, by combining detrital and source FT data it has been possible to resolve the time of change in regional tectonic conditions associated with rifting and basin formation and to show how these changes inuenced regional denudation. 2.3. Applications using detrital zircon FT data Zircon is an ideal mineral for provenance studies since it is common to a wide range of rock types, resistant to both physical and chemical attack and can endure repeated cycles of erosion, transport and burial. The robustness of zircon is reected by an FT partial annealing zone that occurs at higher temperatures than apatite and ranges between 200 320C (for 106 108 years), although the upper value is poorly dened due to a lack of suitable geological constraints (Tagami et al., 1998). Because of the uncertainty attached to the higher temperature end of zircon annealing, modelling zircon FT age and length data is not yet routinely practised although this will change as more zircon annealing data become available. Compared to apatite data, zircon FT data generally relate to different crustal processes that depend on the geological setting and the processes controlling cooling (e.g. tectonic or erosive denudation). However, the zircon FT system remains sensitive to thermal overprinting, so that detrital FT ages cannot be interpreted as unambiguously dating the age of the source unless corroborated by high temper-

Fig. 4. Modelled timetemperature paths for the Jurassic detrital samples from Bearreraig and outcrop samples from the adjacent mainland. Both sets of samples show similar cooling histories and are therefore consistent with the sediments being derived from the mainland region.

geothermal gradient value of 20C=km for northernmost Scotland. This value is based on present day heat ow of 5070 m Wm 3 and thermal conductivity values for the Dalradian, Caledonian Granites and Moine rocks that are between 3.293.47 Wm 1 K 1 . The estimated denudation rates are 6 m=Ma for the Early PalaeozoicLate Triassic increasing to 120150 m=Ma during the Early Jurassic. Applying

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ature single grain UPb age data (e.g., SHRIMP; Compston et al., 1984). Without high temperature UPb dating to see through overprinted grains the true age structure of a source terrain cannot be deciphered with certainty. Because detrital zircon FT ages need to be corroborated it could be argued that only UPb methods such as SHRIMP are appropriate for provenance studies. However, UPb detrital zircon dates reect zircon crystal growth in source rocks or their protoliths. They do not record intermediate stages such as a low grade metamorphism which may be diagnostic of a particular terrain. Furthermore, sediment recycling results in polycyclic zircon grains that yield UPb dates that are far older than their host rocks. Because each technique has limitations with regard to characterizing source, a more robust approach to detrital zircon dating would be to combine both FT and UPb methods in a single study. Despite such uncertainties there are zircon provenance applications in routine use which do not require identifying the nature of a detrital zircon FT age. These include determination of source denudation rates, and constraining the age of biostratigraphically barren sediments such as red-beds. 2.4. Determination of source denudation rates Cerveny et al. (1988) constrained Himalayan denudation rates using detrital zircon FT data from sandstones in the Indus River drainage system. The small but constant time difference (15 Ma) between zircon ages and the depositional age of sandstones within the Neogene Siwalik Group suggested that denudation rates in the Himalayas remained essentially constant for the last 18 Ma. Subsequent studies have built on this approach (Fig. 5) to document upsection changes in zircon source ages and relate changes in lag time (zircon mode age minus stratigraphic age) to source denudation rates (Brandon and Vance, 1992; Garver and Brandon, 1994a,b). Using this approach Garver and Brandon (1994b), in a study on detrital zircons from the Tertiary forearc Tono basin in Washington State, found a constant (40 Ma) time lag for the youngest zircon age component throughout the sedimentary sequence. This was interpreted as representing a constant source erosional denudation rate (250 m=Ma). Because the estimation of source denudation rate using

Fig. 5. Plot illustrating the relationship between zircon FT age and sample deposition age. Deviations to the right of the 1:1 line correspond to the lag time which can be used to estimate source denudation rates.

lag data involves a number of assumptions, including a short transport time, a well-dened zircon partial annealing zone, a stable geothermal gradient, and a constant denudation rate, Garver and Brandon (1994a) suggested that model denudation rate would be a more appropriate term. Studies using lag times tend to work best when a single denudational process is operating as erosional and tectonic denudation can give different age component signatures which when mixed during erosion and transport can present difculties in interpretation. For example, detrital zircon ages produced by tectonic denudation (e.g. extensional faulting) are characterized by short lag times (because of the rapid cooling) and, a restricted stratigraphic age range due to the short lived nature of the process. In contrast, zircons that have been brought to the Earths surface by erosional denudation tend to have ages with a constant time lag which is characteristically present throughout the stratigraphy (e.g. 10 Ma lag in Fig. 5). Of the two processes, tectonic denudation is perhaps the most difcult to prove as near to contemporaneous volcanic sources may give a similar picture. Only by dating the grains using high temperature UPb methods to obtain the true mineral formation age can a volcanic source be proven or discounted. As discussed earlier in the section on apatite, denudation data can be a useful means of reconstructing the long term erosion history of a specic source,

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A. Carter / Sedimentary Geology 124 (1999) 3145

especially where recent erosion may have removed earlier evidence (e.g. unconformities). However, so far, few studies have attempted to derive denudation rate estimates for source regions using detrital zircon data. One example concerns the unroong history of Hercynian granites in Portugal (Pereira et al., 1998) which were emplaced in two main phases between 330280 Ma. Post-emplacement sediments contain evidence for early exposure and erosion of some granites but the sequence of unroong and underlying cause are poorly understood. Using detrital zircon age signatures contained within post- granite sediments, granite apatite FT data and estimated emplacement depths, it was possible to demonstrate that the early syn-tectonic granites were unroofed before emplacement of the later post-tectonic granites. Differences in the unroong histories can be explained by variations in denudation rates linked to the syn- and post-orogenic settings. The early phase of granite emplacement was accompanied by high rates of denudation (8001000 m=Ma) and the later granites by much lower rates (<50 m=Ma). 2.5. Dating biostratigraphically barren sediments The subject of the rst published FT provenance paper was on constraining the age of a biostratigraphically barren sandstone (McGoldrick and Gleadow, 1977) in eastern Victoria, Australia. Detrital zircon grain ages yielded a mean age of 427 20 Ma that was interpreted as a maximum age for deposition of the sediments with the proviso that the sediments had not been to elevated temperatures sufcient to cause track shortening. Recently, Carter et al. (1995) returned to this application and used detrital zircons to constrain the depositional ages of biostratigraphically barren red-beds in Scotland and Thailand. In both regions apatite FT data were used to measure the level of post-depositional heating to ensure that the zircon grain ages truly reected their source and had not been affected by post depositional resetting. To illustrate how detrital zircon FT data can be used to constrain depositional ages, data from the Mesozoic red-beds in Thailand are discussed in more detail. The Mesozoic Khorat Group in Thailand is composed of 34 km of continental clastic rocks of Triassic to Cretaceous age. Similar continental succes-

sions occur throughout mainland SE Asia although the Khorat Group in Thailand comprise the best exposed and most complete sequence. A consequence of the Khorat Group being largely composed of red-beds is that there is very little biostratigraphic control. The group was originally divided into six formations by Ward and Bunnag (1964) which form the basis for the present correlations. These Formations (Nam Phong, Phu Kradung, Phra Wihan, Sao Khua, Phu Phan and Khok Kruat) represent uvial sequences deposited by meandering and braided channels with associated oodplains. The group is underlain by the Huai Hin Lat Formation which has been dated by palynomorphs as Norian (late Triassic). The overlying Maha Sarakham Formation and the top of the Khok Khruat Formation have been given an AptianAlbian age on the basis of vertebrate remains (Buffetaut et al., 1993). The intervening formations were initially arranged to ll the space available and assigned appropriate ages based on their stratigraphic position. A review of biostratigraphic data by Mouret et al. (1993) attempted to put the Khorat Group into a sequence stratigraphic framework but the application of sea-level curves to a largely non-marine basin has not been widely accepted. As part of a larger study examining the basin evolution and sedimentology, a zircon FT study was undertaken to help constrain provenance. Apatite FT and limited vitrinite data indicated that maximum palaeotemperatures for the sample localities were 100C hence detrital zircons would retain their original source ages. The principal age components, extracted using the approach of Sambridge and Compston (1994), from nine samples collected from the Phra Wihan Formation (middle Formation) are shown in Fig. 6. The results show that the samples contained a simple age structure which collectively form three source age groups at 116 5 Ma, 155 8 Ma and 242 10 Ma. A single sample may contain only one or two of these modes which demonstrates the importance of collecting multiple samples for this type of study. The most signicant detrital age mode in Fig. 6, is the youngest at 116 5 Ma since the sediments cannot be older than this. Thus, the Phra Wihan Formation that had been previously assigned a mid-Jurassic age, cannot be older than the Early Cretaceous, and a stratigraphic realignment of the Khorat Group is therefore required.

A. Carter / Sedimentary Geology 124 (1999) 3145

43

Fig. 6. Plot showing principal detrital zircon FT age components extracted from nine samples belonging to the Phra Whan Formation, Thailand. The youngest mode, mean age 116 5 Ma, provides a maximum age stratigraphic for this formation.

3. Concluding remarks Amongst the various dating methods available for use in provenance studies there exists a wide range (60900C) of temperature stability elds that can be used to record different geological processes. The adoption of a particular geochronological method for use in sediment provenance study requires selecting a technique and mineral phase that have a thermal stability range suited to the type of provenance information required. The purpose of this paper has been to describe some of the unique provenance applications of the low temperature FT method, stress the processes which may inuence the data and, demonstrate how such data can be used to discriminate and characterize the source region. Apatite FT analysis is the most temperature sensitive geochronological method applied to single grain dating. Data from source area apatite grains can be used together with robust modelling procedures to determine source thermal histories and estimate denudation rates that permit the reconstruction of missing sections. Cooling histories enable the identication of changes in the thermal regime associated with underlying tectonic processes and therefore provide important constraints on regional thermotectonic models, as demonstrated by an ex-

ample from the transform margin off the West Coast of Africa. Detrital apatite FT studies have often used ODP material to constrain source thermal evolution as the drill sites generally have a low level of post-depositional heating (essential for ensuring that detrital apatites have not had their provenance signature modied by post-depositional annealing) and low sedimentation rates which enable sampling over a large time interval. The diversity of settings used in ODP studies (passive margins, mid-oceanic basins, triple junctions, and buried rifted continental fragments) provide an indication of the wide range of provenance applications to which detrital apatite FT data can contribute. Recently, detrital apatite FT studies have begun to compare the thermal signature from both source and depositional site in order to develop a more comprehensive picture of a regions thermotectonic evolution. Studies that have adopted this approach have provided new insights into source evolution. For example, they demonstrated the need for a Cretaceous cover across southern Norway, and that it is possible to detect and date changes in denudational processes operating during Miocene extension of the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. Future detrital apatite FT applications should concentrate on improving resolution of the temporal relationships between source evolution and sedimentation in adjacent basins. The range of applications for detrital zircon FT data is restricted due primarily to the difculties of interpreting a detrital zircon age because of possible metamorphic resetting. Common applications that avoid these uncertainties include dating source, determination of source denudation rates and constraining the age of biostratigraphically barren sediments. In the future interpretative difculties may be overcome by adopting a dual approach to zircon dating using both UPb and FT methods. Single grain apatite UPb dating may also become routine.

Acknowledgements Support for the London FT Research Group provided by NERC grants GR3=7068 and 8261. Kit Johnson is thanked for many useful discussions and Tony Hurford and Charlie Bristow for continued support.

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