<p>I have zircons that have been mounted in a resin block. They have been polished to approximately half way through the zircons (as is convention) and they have been ablated to attain the U-Pb or Pb-Pb ages. I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of the (U+Th)/He method. Can these zircons still be analysed for (U+Th)/He? Or would the ablation affect the results? Furthermore, would the zircons need to be extracted from the resin blocks? If so, what would be the best method of extraction?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-10T08:50:56.820Z
(U+Th)/He is going to be by solution, no by LA, am I right?
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-10T13:35:31.497Z
That's right. So the problem would be getting the zircons out. I don't know if there are people out there that have done this kind of thing. And again, I don't know if the ablation process may affect the results for (U+Th)/He
Ton
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-10T21:28:01.427Z
I would suspect that the isotope ratios my be disrupted at the ablation wall holes. Maybe leaching that stuff somehow to leave only pristine zircon? No idea. I would do a literature search to see if someone has done it before. Look at their methods section, and possibly email the corresponding author.
Gimelist
<geology><geochemistry><geochronology><isotopic>
Can zircons be analysed by the (U+Th)/He after being ablated for analysis of U-Pb?
Ton
# Can zircons be analysed by the (U+Th)/He after being ablated for analysis of U-Pb?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-10)

I have zircons that have been mounted in a resin block. They have been polished to approximately half way through the zircons (as is convention) and they have been ablated to attain the U-Pb or Pb-Pb ages. I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of the (U+Th)/He method. Can these zircons still be analysed for (U+Th)/He? Or would the ablation affect the results? Furthermore, would the zircons need to be extracted from the resin blocks? If so, what would be the best method of extraction?

**Tags:** geology, geochemistry, geochronology, isotopic

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: (U+Th)/He is going to be by solution, no by LA, am I right?  
> **username_0**: That's right. So the problem would be getting the zircons out. I don't know if there are people out there that have done this kind of thing. And again, I don't know if the ablation process may affect the results for (U+Th)/He  
> **username_1**: I would suspect that the isotope ratios my be disrupted at the ablation wall holes. Maybe leaching that stuff somehow to leave only pristine zircon? No idea. I would do a literature search to see if someone has done it before. Look at their methods section, and possibly email the corresponding author.  

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## 0 answers

