LA-ICP-MS U-Pb carbonate geochronology and its geological applications

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb geochronology for carbonate minerals, calcite in particular, is rapidly gaining popularity as an absolute dating method. In this study, we review the latest technical progress in LA-ICP-MS carbonate geochronology, including the pre-screening strategies (on-line spot selection with a threshold, image-guided approach, and image-based approach), preferred instrumentation (Q-ICP-MS, SF-ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS), calibration methods, common Pb corrections and the development of reference materials, with the aim of further improving the precision and accuracy of this technique. We emphasized the characterization of two calcite reference materials (TLM and LSJ07) for micro-beam U-Pb geochronology and C, O isotope ratio measurements. The latest geological applications of LA-ICP-MS U-Pb carbonate geochronology in dating of diagenesis and hydrothermal activity were reviewed.