Fission-track dating of apatite and zircon: An interlaboratory comparison

Abstract

Apatite and zircon separates from the Fish Canyon Tuff (K-Ar age, 27.9??0.7 Myr), San Juan Mtns., Colorado, have been given to over 50 laboratories for fission-track dating. Nineteen laboratories have reported fission-track ages that they have determined for apatites. Nine laboratories have reported their analysis of the zircons. The principal difference between the results reported by the laboratories reflects their choice of the decay constant. The laboratories which use a value of ??f ??? 7.0 ?? 10-17 yr-1 for the spontaneous-fission decay constant of 238U, report an average age for the apatite of 28.5??0.7 Myr, and those using ??f ??? = 8.4 ?? 10-17 yr-1 report an average age of 23.6??1.0 Myr. The average fission-track age for the zircons is 28.4??0.7 Myr. Only laboratories which use ??f ??? 7.0 ?? 10-17 yr-1 reported zircon data. ?? 1981.