238U/206Pb-235U/207Pb-232Th/208Pb zircon geochronology in alpine and non-alpine environment

Based on regular arrays in a U-Pb diagram of data points of zircons from polymetamorphic rocks of the Alps quantitative models are developed that include several episodic lead losses, continuous lead losses during discrete periods and combinations of both.The data from the Alps can be explained by assuming an initial age of the zircons of 2000 and/or 2500–2600 m.y. and three episodic lead losses 520–580 m.y., 300 m.y. and 30 m.y. ago with regionally varying intensities of the events as can be seen from the efficiency parameters which define the shape of the discordia. On the other hand, zircon data from North American basement rocks satisfy a model assuming a discrete interval of continuous lead loss that starts with the time of uplift of the rocks.The Th-U-Pb diagrams are valuable for recognising whether the history of the zircons and their host rock is a complex one or not which is not always noticeable in a U-Pb diagram.