Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team
Task Contact: Michael Kunk
The Thermochronology Laboratory is a state of the art fully-automated, multi-user, multi-funded argon research laboratory that initiates and conducts geochronologic studies and provides geochronological support to projects in several programs in the Geologic Discipline, to foreign governments, and to outside research organizations including colleges and universities. Although the lab is used primarily for USGS programmatic research, it has a long history of collaborating with scientists from various colleges and universities and is used as a teaching lab for graduate students. The lab provides age control for samples from a wide variety of geologic environments. The products of the Thermochronology Laboratory are analytical results, data reports (Open-File Reports), and various formal publications and presentations.
The Thermochronology Laboratory will continue to work to produce high quality argon data with a variety of projects within the USGS, and with academia. Continuing internal projects will include Son of BRASS (NCGMP), Appalachian Blue Ridge Landscape (NCGMP), Cheasapeake Bay Impact Crater (NCGMP), Colorado Front Range (MRP) and Calibration of MMhb-2(NCGMP, MRP). Continuing external projects will include three or four projects with students at Indiana University and the college of William and Mary as well as a number of small projects with a variety of universities.
Argon work has been completed on the timing of mineralization in abd around Butte, Montana. Preliminary analysis of our argon data indicates that hydrothermal mineralization in this complex ore system most likely occured as a series of pulses that range in age from ~75 Ma (the time of pluton emplacement) to as young as 63.5 Ma. Our data are the first to delineate individual mineralization ages in this timeframe using argon techniques.
Argon work in the Washington D.C. area has reveled the exixtance of several faults or boundaries in the area west of the District that were hidden from geologic mappers by poor exposure of the rocks in the area. A paper detailing this work will be published in the Sept-Oct 2005 issue of GSA Bulletin, and the field area was the subject of a field trip that I lead for the 2004 NE-SE GSA meeting (USGS Circular 1264, Chapter 5).
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