Intercalibration of 3He and Other Cosmogenic Nuclide Production Rates In Multiple Mineral Phases

To extend the applicability of cosmogenic 3He dating beyond minerals restricted to mafic rocks (i.e., olivine and pyroxene), we have been assessing the suitability of 3He dating of additional minerals, e.g., zircon. A key aspect of this undertaking is the calibration of spallation production rates. Because the production rate of 3He varies from element to element in a fashion that is not yet well known, an empirical approach is necessary. Our recent work has focused on the Devil's Kitchen rhyolite, Coso Volcanic Field, SE California. This rhyolite has a 587 ka K/Ar age, which will be verified with a new 40Ar/39Ar age on sanidine. The attraction of this rhyolite is its extraordinary mineral assemblage arising from both the rhyolite itself and abundant mafic inclusions. From two individual rocks we obtained separates and measured 3He in the following minerals: olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, garnet, zircon, apatite, hornblende, and ilmenite. In addition we intend to measure 21Ne in quartz and sanidine, 38Ar in sanidine, and 10Be and 26Al in quartz. We sampled two surfaces: one with tension gashes documenting an original flow surface, and a protruding rock fin. The sample with primary surface morphology is apparently uneroded, but preliminary 3He analyses of olivine suggest the surface has been buried for a substantial part of its history. Olivine 3He analyses from the fin indicate exposure ages consistent with the eruption age, so this sample may allow absolute calibration of production rates. In either case we can use these samples to inter-calibrate production rates in a large number of minerals using multiple cosmogenic isotopes.