Annealing kinetics of Kr-tracks in monazite: Implications for fission-track modelling

This paper reports data related to the potential of the mineral monazite for reconstructing the low-temperature thermal histories of geological samples from confined fission-track length measurements. The data are derived from isothermal annealing experiments on 300 MeV 86Kr tracks. Simplified versions of the favoured annealing models for apatite are adequate for describing the dataset. A non-compositional model predicts that: (1) track accumulation sets in when a sample cools under ~ 100 °C; (2) a substantial reduction (~ 2.5 μm) takes place at ambient and lower temperatures on a geological timescale; (3) an additional reduction of similar magnitude (~ 2.5 μm) takes place during exposure for a geological time span to the annealing conditions in the earth's upper crust; and (4) etching at elevated or room temperature is expected to affect the length of induced fission tracks but not that of fossil tracks.