Fission Track Geothermochronometry: A Review

Abstract

The optical detection of fission tracks (FT) in dielectrics in the early 1960s was subsequently utilized in dating geological materials and events. Fission track dating (FTD) has had a rapid growth from a fact of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors into a successful thermotectonic analytical tool in the realm of geochronology. Recent fission-track length studies have shown that thermal overprints can also be detected and dated by this technique. In this review paper the formation, factors affecting the chemical etching, a comparison of different dating procedures and the annealing behavior of fission tracks as well as the determination, meaning and error statistics of FT ages are discussed high-lighting the recent issues and trends, particularly in 1980s, of fission-track geothermochronometry. The problem of λ_f has led to the concept of FT age standardization. Some case histories illustrating the applications of FTD are cited.