U-Pb Homogeneity of Duluth Gabbro Baddeleyite from Microgram to Nanogram Scales

Baddeleyite has significant potential for U-Pb geochronology of mafic rocks, but due to small crystal sizes it can be exceedingly difficult to extract by conventional mineral separation techniques. We therefore developed in-situ dating of baddeleyite crystals with lateral dimensions between 5 and 20 μm (micro-baddeleyite) in polished petrographic thin sections using a CAMECA ims 1270 ion microprobe, and tested the homogeneity of a baddeleyite standard from Duluth gabbro complex over a wide range of grain sizes. Large (100 - 200 μm in diameter) baddeleyite crystals were separated from sample FC4-b from the Duluth gabbro complex and individually analyzed by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS). Three FC-4b baddeleyite analyses overlap within error with a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb date of 1099.6±1.5 Ma that closely agrees with published Duluth gabbro zircon dates. The weighted mean ID-TIMS 206Pb/238U date for FC4-b baddeleyite crystal separates (1096.8±0.3 Ma) is slightly younger than those for zircon. Large FC4-b baddeleyite crystals were also mounted along with pieces of polished thin-sections containing micro-baddeleyite and analyzed by ion microprobe using oxygen flooding to enhance sensitivity for positively charged Pb ions by a factor of ten. Ion microprobe 207Pb/206Pb ages for micro-baddeleyite (average 1096.9±2.6 Ma; MSWD = 1.2; n = 27) agree with the ID-TIMS age. With U-Pb relative sensitivities calibrated on FC4-b crystal separates, the weighted average 206Pb/238U micro-baddeleyite date is 1113±11 Ma (MSWD = 2.6; n = 27). This demonstrates that ion microprobe U-Pb baddeleyite analyses are unbiased by crystallographic orientation or grain size, and that 207Pb/206Pb and 206Pb/238U dates for Precambrian micro-baddeleyite are accurate and precise to within <0.3% and <2% relative uncertainty, respectively. For Phanerozoic samples, we anticipate similar 206Pb/238U age uncertainty if radiogenic yields are high. This opens new possibilities for dating silica-undersaturated rocks for which little alternatives exist.