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Crustal Sulfide Minerals (Re-Os)

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Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

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Definition

The rhenium-osmium (187Re-187Os) radioactive isotope system can be used to determine absolute age dates for some sulfide minerals formed in a variety of crustal geologic environments, including those associated with igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic processes. Sulfide minerals that have yielded reliable Re-Os age dates include molybdenite (MoS2), pyrite (FeS2), and arsenopyrite (FeAsS), although many other sulfide minerals have potential for yielding Re-Os age dates. This entry deals with Re-Os geochronology of crustal sulfide minerals typically formed from aqueous fluids, either hydrothermal or diagenetic, and does not consider orthomagmatic sulfide minerals.

Introduction

Following the discovery of the natural radioactivity of 187Re by negatron decay (Naldrett and Libby 1948), some of the earliest applications of 187Re-187Os geochronology involved the crustal sulfide mineral molybdenite (MoS2 – Hirt et al. 1963; Luck and Allègre 1982). During these early years, the...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 126ESB, T6G2E3, AB, Canada

    Robert A. Creaser

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  1. Robert A. Creaser
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Correspondence to Robert A. Creaser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    W. Jack Rink

  2. Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Jeroen Thompson

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Creaser, R. (2014). Crustal Sulfide Minerals (Re-Os). In: Rink, W., Thompson, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_87-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_87-1

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