Handbook of Geochronology Mineral Separation Laboratory Techniques

This handbook provides a summary of activities undertaken in the Geoscience Australia (GA) Geochronology Mineral Separation Laboratory, an in-house facility dedicated to the production of high quality mineral separates for isotopic analysis.

Significant resources are expended acquiring isotopic geochronology data; money, time and effort are invested from the earliest stage of identifying a need to date a geological sample, followed by planning and sample collection, mineral separation processes, data acquisition, data processing, report writing and data management. The researcher and end-users need assurance that the best sample possible has been obtained and analysed.

The chain of quality control required for good isotopic analysis begins with field sampling and continues with detailed attention to mineral separation and final sample preparation. Issues faced include finding fresh samples, minimisation of contamination risks, efficiencies in sample preparation and digital documentation of samples. Skimping on sampling and preparation can produce erroneous results just as surely as any systematic instrument problem, potentially leading to inaccurate reporting, low confidence in data quality and a loss of reputation for the laboratory, researchers and organisation. Therefore, it is essential that measures are taken through all stages of processing to ensure the sample remains contaminant free, labelling is correct and that data entered into information and archiving systems are accurate.

Rock samples collected for geochronological analysis from outcrop, drill core or dredges can range in size from 100 grams to 30 kilograms. Variations in sample type, sample size and target minerals affect the approach to sample preparation.

Minerals most frequently separated for isotopic analysis are zircon, monazite and potassium-rich rock forming minerals including K-feldspar and micas. Other minerals separated include titanite, rutile, apatite, xenotime, sulphides, tungstates and gold.

Cleaning processes throughout the laboratory are very rigorous due to the risk of contamination between samples. The higher the level of sample concentration, the greater the risk of contamination; it only takes one grain from a previous sample separation to contaminate the next sample a grain that, if analysed, must be reported and explained in the interest of scientific transparency.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2014-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/78527

Citation identifier
Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2014.046

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Publisher

Geoscience Australia

 Canberra
Author

Chisholm, E.I.

 1
Author

Sircombe, K.N.

 2
Author

DiBugnara, D.L.

 3
Name

Record

Issue identification

2014/046

Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

MNHD
Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information
Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

Keywords

  • GA Publication

  • Record

Keywords

  • AU-ACT

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

Keywords

  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
OnLine resource

Download the Record (docx)

Download the Record (docx)

Distribution format

  • docx

OnLine resource

Download the Record (pdf)

Download the Record (pdf)

Distribution format

  • pdf

Resource lineage

Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

GA Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/eb2d6eee-f019-170b-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA Record

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/78527

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/eb2d6eee-f019-170b-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-20T06:04:20
Date info (Creation)
2013-11-15T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

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