Enhancement of the fission-track dating method and trace elements including the rare earth elements (REE) in apatite at Trinity College Dublin - Ireland

• Grant number: 22/13003-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Alberto Tello Sáenz
• Grantee: Jaqueline Dickel Bilhar
• Supervisor: David Chew
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/00401-4 - Thermochronology by fission track and (U-Th)/He methods in apatite applied in the southeastern portion of the Mogi Guaçu River Basin - SP: considerations about provenance (mineral fertility) and estimates of transport anderosion rates, BP.MS

Abstract

Thermochronology applied to modern river sediments can provide important information on the provenance, fertility, and exhumation of sediment sources. When Trace Elements including the Rare Earth Elements (REE) analysis are coupled to these alluvial sediments the identification of sediment sources is facilitated and it is possible to correlate with Fission-Track (FT) ages. The Peixe River, which belongs to the Mogi Guaçu River Hydrographic Basin, northeast of the State of São Paulo, is about 50 km long, crossing several lithologies, mostly composed of gneissic and granitic rocks, formed from the Archean to the Neoproterozoic. This portion of the hydrographic basin constitutes the compartment with the highest slopes, linked to a strong structural control. During fieldwork, samples were collected from the bedrock and along the Peixe River, to apply the methods of FT and (U-Th)/He dating and trace element analysis on the apatite mineral and to make considerations about provenance, fertility, and exhumation of the alluvial sediment sources. The present Research Internship Abroad (BEPE) project seeks to improve the FT dating method and to integrate Trace Element + Rare Earth Element (REE) analysis in apatite at Trinity College Dublin - Ireland, with the assistance of Professor Ph.D. David Chew. The data obtained will allow us to make considerations about the provenance of these sediments and to indicate the major tendencies of areas of the Peixe sub-basin to provide apatite (mineral fertility). (AU)