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Fission Track Dating and Thermochronology

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Abbreviations

Fission Track:

A linear trail of radiation damage in an insulating solid resulting from the passage of fission fragments formed by spontaneous or induced fission of a heavy nucleus, especially of isotopes of uranium.

Fission Track Dating:

A technique for geological or archaeological dating based on the accumulation of fission tracks from the spontaneous nuclear fission of 238U in natural minerals and glasses.

Fission Track Density:

The number of fission tracks counted per unit area on a given surface.

Fission Track Length:

The length of a fission track measured under a microscope after chemical enlargement.

Fission Track Annealing:

The property of fission tracks that results in the gradual repair of the radiation damage in the host material upon exposure to elevated temperatures.

Fission Track Analysis:

The measurement of different fission track parameters including track density and track length that are used to monitor the degree of fission track annealing for the purpose of reconstructing rock thermal histories.

Fission Track Thermochronology:

The reconstruction of rock thermal histories based on the fission track annealing properties of one or more constituent minerals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, McCoy Bldy, 3010, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Andrew JW Gleadow & Christian Seiler

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  1. Andrew JW Gleadow
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  2. Christian Seiler
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Correspondence to Andrew JW Gleadow .

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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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Gleadow, A.J., Seiler, C. (2014). Fission Track Dating and Thermochronology. In: Rink, W., Thompson, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_5-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6326-5_5-1

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