Many materials that are usually found in the earth's crust contain small but measurable amount of naturally occurring radioactivity (NORM). Some particular ores contain natural radionuclide at levels much higher those usually present in earth's crust; and are also subject to radioisotope enrichment, during technological process, known as technologically enhanced natural radioactivity (TENORM). ...

Irradiation effects were investigated in zircon crystals by methods of optical absorption and luminescence. Special attention was given to the effects of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. The same main thermoluminescence (TL) peaks with the same thermal activation energies appeared after VUV as after X- or beta irradiation, indicating that the same traps were induced by the different irradiat...

19 Detrital-zircon analysis of sandstones interbedded with ca 464 Ma ignimbrites in 20 the lower Mweelrea Formation of the South Mayo Trough, western Ireland, 21 suggests Ordovician source-rock provenance that corresponds to two distinct 22 volcanic-arc phases on the Laurentian margin. East-derived sandstones contain a 23 suite of zircons with a mean age of ca 487 Ma that suggests derivation fr...

Fission tracks in minerals, such as apatite and zircon, generated by energetic nuclear fragments that result from spontaneous fission of U, are used for determining the age and thermal history of Earth’s crust. Taken together with other techniques, the data infer rates of tectonic uplift and landscape evolution [1]. At elevated temperatures, these tracks shrink in size and fragment into section...

Al diffusion under anhydrous 1-atm conditions has been measured in natural zircon. Experiments used a source consisting of AlPO4-ZrSiO4 powder mixtures. were run air crimped Pt capsules. profiles with Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) using the reaction 27Al(p, γ)28Si. For parallel to c, following Arrhenius relation is determined: D = 6.24 × 103 exp.(−774 ± 34 kJ mol−1 /RT) m2s−1 Diffusivities no...

The texture and morphology of igneous zircon indicates magmatic conditions during crystallization can be used to constrain provenance. Zircons from porphyry copper deposits are typically prismatic, euhedral, strongly oscillatory zoned which may differentiate them zircons associated with unmineralized systems. Here, cathodoluminescence images the Quellaveco district, Southern Peru, were collecte...