Vestfold Hills Mafic Dyke Samarium-Neodymium Isotopic Data

Preliminary Samarium-Neodymium isochron dating data from two metamorphosed mafic dyke rock samples in the southwest Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. The dataset contains measured isotopic ratios and errors for 147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd from mineral separates. Dr Jon Woodhead of the University of Melbourne conducted the analysis, with data last updated in March 1999.

Use Cases

• Calculate isochron ages for amphibolite-facies metamorphism using the measured 147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd ratios from mineral separates.
• Assess the precision of calculated metamorphic ages by propagating the error measurements for each isotopic ratio.
• Compare the preliminary metamorphic ages of ~735.8 Ma and ~714 Ma between rock samples 9B and 8A to evaluate regional timing.
• Validate or challenge existing regional models proposing ~1000 Ma or ~500 Ma metamorphic events using the provided isotopic data.

Strengths

• Data includes error measurements at 95% confidence limits for both isotopic ratios.
• Analysis provides calculated metamorphic ages with reported uncertainties for two distinct rock samples.

Limitations

• Dataset is very small, derived from only two rock samples (8A and 9B).
• Data is temporally stale, last updated in 1999, and is described as preliminary.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the southwest perimeter of the Vestfold Hills.

Provenance

Source

Dr Jon Woodhead, School of Earth Science, University of Melbourne, via AU_AADC and NASA EarthData.

Collection Method

Samarium-Neodymium isochron dating of recrystallised mafic dyke mineral separates.

Time Range

Neoproterozoic era (metamorphic event dated ~735.8 Ma and ~714 Ma).

Freshness

1999-03-31

Geography

Southwest perimeter of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica.