APATITE FISSION-TRACK THERMOCHRONOLOGY INTEGRATED WITH VITRINITE REFLECTANCE - A REVIEW

A review of basin studies for which both apatite fission track and vitrinite reflectance data are available suggests that total annealing of fission tracks in detrital apatite grains generally occurs at R(o)max values in the range 0.7 to 0.9% for effective heating times between 10(6) and 10(8) years. This observation is in general agreement with predictions based on the comparison of kinetic models for annealing of fission tracks in apatite and the evolution of vitrinite reflectance. The integration of apatite fission track thermochronology and vitrinite reflectance is therefore not only favored by the complementary nature of the two techniques, it is also enhanced by the ability to predict a response in one system with data from the other.