K-Ar datability of altered rocks: variability of excess Ar in hydrothermal minerals

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹ Ar stepwise heating on one hydrothermal anhydrite and two partly hydrothermalized feldspars from a borehole in Vulcano volcano show that the initial trapped Ar does not have a constant isotopic composition. The constant ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratio of the anhydrite, 306±3, is not a well-defined endmember for the two feldspars, which record a variety of fluid compositions. As the system is young (<100 ka), radiogenic Ar is much less than excess Ar.