Services

Noble Gas Geochronology

Services we offer

Ar-Ar Laboratory offers service 40Ar/39Ar geochronology for external researchers and organisations at competitive rates.

In addition to 40Ar/39Ar geochronology services, we also offer mineral separation, thin sectioning, petrographic characterisation, and electron microprobe sample characterisation.

Collaboration and confidentiality

For work undertaken at standard commercial rates, we will provide a confidential report of analyses performed and results obtained. For collaborative projects, we will prepare necessary results for publication in journals or presentation at conferences. We operate on three levels of confidentiality and collaboration, corresponding to individual client needs and budgets:

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Research collaborative

‘Research collaborative’ projects represent joint research between partner researchers and Ar-Ar Laboratory researchers. There is an expectation that such work will lead to a scientific publication with co-authorship by the relevant Ar-Ar Laboratory collaborator/s. Depending on the research topic and the analytical requirements, significant discounts may apply.

Snowy mountaintop

Commercial collaborative

‘Commercial collaborative’ projects represent joint research between clients and Ar-Ar Laboratory researchers where projects are initiated by clients. There is an expectation that such work will lead to a scientific publication with co-authorship by the relevant Ar-Ar Laboratory collaborator/s.

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Commercial in confidence

Projects that are ‘commercial in confidence’ remain the proprietary information of the client. Our staff are bound by that confidentiality.

Get in touch

We are happy to discuss any research you may have and to suggest a suitable, cost-effective program to meet your needs.

Please email Dr Hayden Dalton at argon-geochronology@unimelb.edu.au for any enquiries.

Email us

40Ar/39Ar dating workflow and timeline

Total time 8-18 months

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Sample preparation 2-6 weeks

  • Petrologic characterisation
  • Polished section preparation: In some cases, we need to prepare petrographic thin-sections or grain mounts to carry out this characterisation if suitable or accurate information is not provided.
  • Bulk crush/sieve
  • Gravity/density/magnetic sorting
  • Acid leaching
  • Hand-picking of K-rich phases

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Irradiation 2-6 months

  • Co-irradiation w/flux monitor
  • Nucleogenic isotope production
This time depends on a number of factors. Samples are sent to a nuclear reactor in the US. We must wait until we have a 'batch' of samples to send (e.g., 30 or more) Often there is a queue Once samples are irradiated, they are radioactive, and therefore we must wait up to 1 month or more before the samples can be handled (i.e., once the radioactivity has reduced to a safe threshold).

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Noble gas analysis 2-4 weeks

  • Fusion/step heating/laser ablation
  • Gas clean-up/purification
  • Characterisation of blanks and baselines
  • Analysis of air or cocktail standards
  • Ar isotope data reduction

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Data interpretation 1-3 weeks

  • Release spectra
  • Statistical analysis