• journal_title：Journal of the Geological Society
• Contributor：Sarah C. Sherlock ; Kevin A. Jones ; R.Graham Park
• Publisher：Geological Society of London
• Date：2008-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.1144/0016-76492006-134
• journal_abbrev：Journal of the Geological Society
• issn：0016-7649
• volume：165
• issue：1
• firstpage：73
• section：Original Article

Infrared laserprobe ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating has been used to date pseudotachylite and host-rock minerals from a crush belt in the Lewisian basement of Scotland. It has revealed complexity in the pseudotachylite data that is attributable to the presence of refractory host-rock clasts and mineral fragments in the pseudotachylite. In conjunction with the host-rock mineral laserprobe ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data it has been possible to simplify the pseudotachylite data for the samples, and the preferred ages for these are: 980 ± 39 Ma, 999 ± 31 Ma and 1024 ± 30 Ma (2σ). These ages are the first record of Grenville-aged brittle deformation in the Lewisian. Further, this study serves to illustrate the complexity of dating pseudotachylites, and the advantages and limitations of the IR laserprobe applied to such materials.