Geochronology laboratory at the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (Colombian Geological Survey): advances in the U-Pb dating of zircons by the LA-ICP-MS technique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32685/0120-1425/boletingeo.44.2018.7Keywords:
Ablation, laser, mass spectrometry, dating, geochronology, U/Pb, zircon, LA ICP-MS
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Abstract
This paper presents the first results of the implementation of the U-Pb dating laboratory at the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (Colombian Geological Survey) using the LA-ICP-MS analytical technique for U-Pb dating. This geochronological method is based on the radioactive decay of the isotopes of Uranium (238U/206Pb and 235U/207Pb) in order to be used in the zircon age determinations. As part of the implementation process, we evaluated reference materials with different age ranges using analytical parameters similar to those used by other laboratories worldwide with the aim of obtaining results with optimal precision and accuracy for this analytical technique. In general, the results obtained show that for the majority of the reference materials, the precision as the coefficient of variation and the veracity as the difference between the expected age and the obtained age are less than 2 %. In addition, we evaluated the concordance of the U-Pb system using concordance diagrams and we found that the mean square weighted deviation (MSWD) in most standards were less than 2, implying that the results were obtained within the established statistical parameters.
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