Muscovite recrystallization and saddle-shaped 40Ar/39Ar age spectra: Example from the Blond granite (Massif Central, France)

Muscovites from the Blond granite (West French Massif Central) were dated by the 40Ar/39Ar single-grain method. The 40Ar/39Ar ages obtained vary from 305.5 +/- 0.3 Ma to 311.3 +/- 0.5 Ma, and most of the age spectra are slightly saddle-shaped. The analyzed muscovites show phengitic recrystallization under optical microscope observations, SEM images, and electron microprobe chemical analyses. It is proposed that the saddle-shaped age spectra result from a partial recrystallization, which produced three different isotopic reservoirs in the analyzed white mica single grains: domains of early muscovite, domains of neocrystallized muscovite formed by phengitic and Al-Fe substitutions, and "low-activation energy sites." Copyright (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.