Dating of Pleistocene uranyl phosphates in the supergene alteration zone of Late Variscan granites by Laser-Ablation-Inductive-Coupled-Plasma Mass Spectrometry with a review of U minerals of geochronological relevance to Quaternary geology

Laser-Ablation-Inductive-Coupled-Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has proved to be a reliable tool to date metatorbernite–bassetite solid solution series in Pleistocene weathering pits developing on the surface of Late Variscan granites. The maximum age of weathering in these granites in NW Spain is 1.61 ± 0.01 Ma. The likelihood to find uranyl phosphates or silicates amenable to LA-ICP-MS dating increases with increasing silica content in the magmatic bedrocks (granites) and with decreasing grade during regional metamorphism (low-grade-stage/greenschist metamorphics) of the parent material. Uranyl vanadates may be used for geochronological studies during the Quaternary as well but they are confined to arid morphoclimatic zones.