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Journal of the Geological Society

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Grenville-age pseudotachylite in the Lewisian: laserprobe ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from the Gairloch region of Scotland (UK)

¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space & Astronomical Sciences (CEPSAR), The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK (e-mail: s.sherlock{at}open.ac.uk)
² Hills Road Sixth Form College, Hills Road, Cambridge CA9 99A, UK
³ 12 Provost Ferguson Drive, Tain IV19 1RE, UK

Infrared laserprobe ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating has been used to date pseudotachylite and host-rock minerals from a crush belt in the Lewisian basement of Scotland. It has revealed complexity in the pseudotachylite data that is attributable to the presence of refractory host-rock clasts and mineral fragments in the pseudotachylite. In conjunction with the host-rock mineral laserprobe ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data it has been possible to simplify the pseudotachylite data for the samples, and the preferred ages for these are: 980 ± 39 Ma, 999 ± 31 Ma and 1024 ± 30 Ma (2). These ages are the first record of Grenville-aged brittle deformation in the Lewisian. Further, this study serves to illustrate the complexity of dating pseudotachylites, and the advantages and limitations of the IR laserprobe applied to such materials.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. C. Sherlock, R. A. Strachan, and K. A. Jones High spatial resolution 40Ar/39Ar dating of pseudotachylites: geochronological evidence for multiple phases of faulting within basement gneisses of the Outer Hebrides (UK) Journal of the Geological Society, December 1, 2009; 166(6): 1049 - 1059. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]