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  Metallic lead (Pb) nanospheres discovered in Hadean and Eoarchean zircon crystals at Jack Hills

Kusiak, M. A., Wirth, R., Wilde, S. A., Pidgeon, R. T. (2023): Metallic lead (Pb) nanospheres discovered in Hadean and Eoarchean zircon crystals at Jack Hills. - Scientific Reports, 13, 895.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27843-6

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Kusiak, Monika A.1, Author
Wirth, R.2, Author              
Wilde, Simon A.1, Author
Pidgeon, Robert T.1, Author
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1External Organizations, ou_persistent22              
23.5 Interface Geochemistry, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, ou_754888              

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 Abstract: Here, we report small randomly-distributed crystalline lead (Pb) nanospheres occurring in detrital zircon grains obtained from a weakly metamorphosed Archean conglomerate at Jack Hills, Western Australia, making this the third known global example of this phenomenon. They form in zircon crystals ranging from Hadean (> 4 billion years—Ga) to Eoarchean (> 3.6 Ga) in age, but are absent from Paleoarchean (~ 3.4 Ga) crystals. Unlike previous discoveries of nanospheres in zircon from Precambrian gneisses in Antarctica and India, detrital zircon from Jack Hills shows no evidence of ever undergoing ultra-high temperature (UHT) metamorphism, either before or after deposition, therefore implying that nanospheres can form at temperatures lower than ca. 900 °C. The nanospheres are composed of radiogenic Pb released by the breakdown of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) and are present in zircon irrespective of its U, Th and water contents, its oxygen isotopic composition, and the degree of discordance due to Pb loss or gain. The nanospheres pre-date annealed cracks in the crystals, showing that, once formed, they effectively ‘freeze’ radiogenic Pb in the zircon structure, precluding any further interaction during subsequent geological processes. Both Pb nanoclusters and nanospheres are now reported from Jack Hills, and it appears likely the former is a precursor stage in the formation of the latter. Although the precise mechanism for this transition remains unresolved, a later thermal event is required, but this likely did not reach UHT conditions at Jack Hills.

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Language(s): eng - English
 Dates: 2023-01-172023
 Publication Status: Finally published
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 Identifiers: DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27843-6
GFZPOF: p4 MESI
OATYPE: Gold Open Access
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Title: Scientific Reports
Source Genre: Journal, SCI, Scopus, OA
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Pages: - Volume / Issue: 13 Sequence Number: 895 Start / End Page: - Identifier: CoNE: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/cone/journals/resource/journals2_395
Publisher: Springer Nature