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Improved Confidence In (U-Th)/He Thermochronology Using The Laser Microprobe: An Example From A Pleistocene Leucogranite, Nanga Parbat, Pakistan, J. W. Boyce, K. V. Hodges, D. King, James L. Crowley, M. Jercinovic, N. Chatterjee, S. A. Bowring, M. Searle

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The newly developed laser microprobe (U-Th)/He thermochronometer permits, for the first time, the ability to generate precise (U-Th)/He cooling ages for even very young (Ma) samples with a spatial resolution on the order of tens of micrometers. This makes it possible to test the reproducibility of independent (U-Th)/He age determinations within individual crystals, further increasing the reliability of the method. As an example, we apply it here to a Pleistocene granite from Nanga Parbat, Pakistan, where previous constraints on the thermal history are consistent with rapid exhumation and cooling. Twenty-one (U-Th)/He dates determined on two monazite crystals from a single …