A zero-damage model for fission-track annealing in zircon

Abstract

A zircon fission track-annealing model is calculated on the basis of annealing experiments from the literature with induced tracks in α-decay event damage-free zircon samples. Empirically derived parallel and fanning equations for this "zero-damage" model yield an excellent fit to the data, with the fanning model providing slightly better statistical parameters. A comparison between annealing models with fanning iso-annealing lines but different α-decay event damage densities reveals that annealing temperatures and closure temperatures for the estimated partial annealing zone are highest for the zero-damage model.