Statistical analyses of the numbers, lengths, and orientations of fission tracks etched in minerals yield dating and thermal history information valuable in geological and geoscience applications, particularly in oil exploration. Fission tracks can be represented mathematically by a stochastic process of randomly oriented line segments in three dim
This book is focused on the basics of applying thermochronology to geological and tectonic problems, with the emphasis on fission-track thermochronology. It is conceived for relatively new practitioners to thermochronology, as well as scientists experienced in the various methods. The book is structured in two parts. Part I is devoted to the fundamentals of the fission-track method, to its integration with other geochronologic methods, and to the basic principles of statistics for fission-track dating and sedimentology applied to detrital thermochronology. Part I also includes the historical development of the technique and thoughts on future directions. Part II is devoted to the geological interpretation of the thermochronologic record. The thermal frame of reference and the different approaches for the interpretation of fission-track data within a geological framework of both basement and detrital studies are discussed in detail. Separate chapters demonstrate the application of fission-track thermochronology from various perspectives (e.g., tectonics, petrology, stratigraphy, hydrocarbon exploration, geomorphology), with other chapters on the application to basement rocks in orogens, passive continental margins and cratonic interiors, as well as various applications of detrital thermochronology.
Volume 58 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry presents 22 chapters covering many of the important modern aspects of thermochronology. The coverage of the chapters ranges widely, including historical perspective, analytical techniques, kinetics and calibrations, modeling approaches, and interpretational methods. In general, the chapters focus on intermediate- to low-temperature thermochronometry, though some chapters cover higher temperature methods such as monazite U/Pb closure profiles, and the same theory and approaches used in low-temperature thermochronometry are generally applicable to higher temperature systems. The widely used low- to medium-temperature thermochronometric systems are reviewed in detail in these chapters, but while there are numerous chapters reviewing various aspects of the apatite (U-Th)/He system, there is no chapter singularly devoted to it, partly because of several previous reviews recently published on this topic.
The collection of papers in this volume is a direct result of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Research Symposium on "Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins: Methods and Case Histories" held as part of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention in New Orleans in March 1985. The original goal of the sym posium was to provide a forum where specialists from a variety of dis ciplines could present their views of methods that can be used to study the thermal history of a sedimentary basin or an important portion of a basin. An explicit part of that goal was to illustrate each method by presentation of a case history application. The original goal is addressed by the chapters in this volume, each of which emphasizes a somewhat different approach and gives field data in one way or another to illustrate the practical useful ness ofthe method. The significance of our relative ignorance of the thermal conductivities of sedimentary rocks, especially shales, in efforts to understand or model sedimentary basin thermal histories and maturation levels is a major thrust of the chapter by Blackwell and Steele. Creaney focuses on variations in kerogen composition in source rocks of different depositional environments and the degree to which these chem- . ically distinct kerogens respond differently to progressive burial heating.
This book focuses on two general purpose approaches to data analysis that work well in practice: weighting and imputation. The book takes a very practical approach to the methods, with a number of datasets used to illustrate the key aspects. The datasets are taken from randomized trials, observational studies, and sample surveys. Keeping theoretical details to a minimum, the book is suitable for practitioners with only basic knowledge of statistics. The author’s SAS-based software, which can be used for all the examples, is available online.
Thermochronology - the use of temperature-sensitive radiometric dating meth-ods to reconstruct the thermal histories of rocks - has proved to be an important means of constraining a wide variety of geological processes. Fission track and (U-Th)/He analyses of apatites, zircons and titanites are the best-established methods for reconstructing such histories over time scales of millions to hun-dreds of millions of years. The papers published in this volume are divided into two sections. The first sec-tion on 'New approaches in thermochronology', presents the most recent ad-vances of existing thermochronological methods and demonstrates the progress in the development of alternative thermochronometers and modelling tech-niques. The second section, 'Applied thermochronology', comprises original papers about denudation, long-term landscape evolution and detrital sources from the European Alps, northwestern Spain, the Ardennes, the Bohemian Massif, Fenno-scandia and Corsica. It also includes case studies from the Siberian Altai, Mozam-bique, South Africa and Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) and reports an ancient thermal anomaly within a regional fault in Japan.
1. 1 Solution of geological problems-are mathematical methods necessary? A question which is often asked is whether it is necessary for geologists to know and to use mathematics in the practise of their science. There is no simple answer to this question, and it is true that many geologists have had successful careers without ever needing to get involved in anything other than simple mathematics, and all the indications are that this is likely to continue into the future. However, in many branches of the subject the trend has been towards using a numerical approach for the solution of suitable problems. The extent to which this occurs depends on the nature of the area being studied; thus, in structural geology, which is con cerned in its simplest aspects with the geometrical relationships between various features, there are many problems which are easily solved. More recently the use of analytical methods has allowed the solution of more-difficult problems. In another area, geochemistry, two things have happened. On the theoretical side there has been a greater integration with physical chemistry, which itself is a highly mathematical subject; and on the practical side there is the need to analyse and interpret the vast quantities of data which modem instrumentation produces. Within geology the application of numerical methods has been given various names, so we have numerical geology, geo mathematics, geostatistics and geosimulation.
This volume brings together 17 comprehensive, data-rich analyses to provide an updated perspective on the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, Florida and northern Caribbean. The papers span a broad range of scales and disciplines from plate tectonic evolution to sub-basin scale analysis. Papers are broadly categorised into three themes: 1) geological evolution of the basins of the southern Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, Bahamas and Florida and their hydrocarbon potential; 2) evolution of the region’s Late Cretaceous to Neogene orogens and subsequent denudation history; and 3) geological evolution of the basins and crustal elements of the northern Caribbean. This book and its extensive data sets are essential for all academic and exploration geoscientists working in this area. Two large wall maps are included as fold-outs.
Since 1980, progress in research on the fission-track dating method and its applications to earth and related sciences has been evaluated during an International Workshop that takes place every four years. This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the International Workshop held in Gent (Belgium) from 26 to 30 August, 1996. Primarily the articles will be of interest to the active fission-track scientists but the combination of research papers and critical reviews that is presented may also provide the interested non-specialist reader with a valuable insight into the fission-track dating method and its role in the earth sciences. This reader will undoubtedly note the evolution that the method has undergone during the last fifteen years, from a technique that was debated in most of its facets to an established chronometric tool with unique qualities in geothermochronology.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1975.
