LA-ICPMS, TEM and Raman study of radiation damage, fluid-induced alteration and disturbance of U-Pb and Th-Pb ages in experimentally metasomatised monazite

Experimentally metasomatised monazite was studied in terms of preservation of U-Pb and Th-Pb ages during alkali-bearing fluid-induced alteration over a broad range of temperature conditions 250–750 °C. Starting materials for experiments included Burnet monazite (Concordia age 1100.5 ± 11.6 Ma, 2σ), albite, K-feldspar, biotite, muscovite, SiO2, CaF2, Na2Si2O5 and H2O. Monazite from experiments at 250–550 °C is partially replaced by secondary REE-rich fluorapatite [(Ca,LREE,Si,Na)5(PO4)3F], fluorcalciobritholite [(Ca,REE)5(SiO4,PO4)3F] and REE-rich steacyite [K1−x(Na,Ca)2(Th,U)Si8O20], and developed patchy zoning, whereas partial replacement by fluorcalciobritholite and cheralite [CaTh(PO4)2] occurred at 650 and 750 °C, with no signs of compositional alteration based on EPMA data and BSE imaging. Raman microspectroscopy results show narrowing of the ν1(PO4) stretching band in unaltered domains, which indicates advancing annealing of the monazite structure with increasing temperature, and narrow ν1(PO4) band with low FWHM values in altered domains. TEM investigations revealed that unaltered domains of monazite from experiments at 250–550 °C have mottled diffraction contrast, similar to the starting Burnet monazite, which indicates low to moderate degree of metamictization. On the contrary, the altered domains of monazite (patchy zones) show no mottled contrast, suggesting an ordered crystalline structure. TEM imaging demonstrated low degree of metamictization in monazite from the experiment at 650 °C; fluid-aided alteration along the cleavage planes resulted in the development of nanoporosity or partial replacement by fluorcalciobritholite and cheralite. Monazite from the experiment at 750 °C has crystalline structure with no signs of metamictization and shows significant development of nanoporosity and formation of secondary cheralite nanocrystals across the grain. For comparison, TEM and Raman evaluation of xenotime from similar experiments at 350 and 650 °C revealed that both starting xenotime and xenotime from experimental products are crystalline with no signs of radiation damage or fluid-induced alteration affecting internal domains on submicron scale, which could result in compositional alteration of the xenotime. The unaltered domains of monazite from runs at 250–550 °C yielded U-Pb and Th-Pb dates similar to the age of Burnet monazite, whereas altered domains yielded discordant dates due to various degree of Pb-loss (up to 99.4%). Linear regressions