SIMS U-Pb dating of micro-zircons in the lunar meteorites Dhofar 1528 and Dhofar 1627 |
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| Authors: | Bidong Zhang Yangting Lin Jialong Hao Devin L. Schrader Meenakshi Wadhwa Randy L. Korotev William K. Hartmann Audrey Bouvier |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA;2. Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;3. Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Arizona, Tempe, USA;4. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Arizona, Tempe, USA;5. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA;6. Planetary Science Institute, Arizona, Tucson, USA;7. Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, Ontario, London, Canada |
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| Abstract: | About half of the lunar meteorites in our collections are feldspathic breccias. Acquiring geochronologic information from these breccias is challenging due to their low radioactive-element contents and their often polymict nature. We used high-spatial-resolution (5 μm) NanoSIMS (nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry) U-Pb dating technique to date micro-zircons in the lunar feldspathic meteorites Dhofar 1528 and Dhofar 1627. Three NanoSIMS dating spots of two zircon grains from Dhofar 1528 show a discordia with an upper intercept at 4354 ± 76 Ma and a lower intercept at 332 ± 1407 Ma (2σ, MSWD = 0.01, p = 0.91). Three spots of two zircon grains in Dhofar 1627 define a discordia with an upper intercept at 3948 ± 30 Ma and a lower intercept at 691 ± 831 Ma (2σ, MSWD = 0.40, p = 0.53). Both samples likely experienced shock metamorphism caused by impacts. Based on the clastic nature, lack of recrystallization and the consistent U-Pb and Pb-Pb dates of the zircons in Dhofar 1528, the U-Pb date of 4354 Ma is interpreted as the crystallization age of its Mg-suite igneous precursor. Some of the Dhofar 1627 zircons show poikilitic texture, a crystallization from the matrix impact melt, so the U-Pb date of 3948 Ma corresponds to an impact event, likely the Imbrium basin-forming event. These data are the first radiometric ages for these two meteorites and demonstrate that in situ (high spatial resolution) U-Pb dating has potential for extracting geochronological information about igneous activities and impact events from lunar feldspathic and polymict breccias. |
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