Retention of cosmogenic 3He in calcite

•Diffusion kinetics of 3He in calcite suggest multi-domain diffusion.•3He retention at surface temperatures depends primarily on the distribution of domain sizes.•Natural calcite from two sites appear retentive, samples from two other sites are not retentive.•Mg content and crystal defects may also influence diffusion kinetics.

Cosmogenic 3He can be used to date a wide range of mineral phases because it is produced from all target elements and can be readily measured above atmospheric contamination. Calcite is a particularly attractive target mineral due to its natural abundance, large crystal size (>1 mm), and low He closure temperature (<70 °C), which limit non-cosmogenic 3He components (Copeland et al., 2007). However, several recent studies have shown that some calcite may not be retentive to helium, even under surface temperatures (Cros et al., 2014; Copeland et al., 2007). This study thus explores 3He retention and production in natural calcite samples at four different sites. Samples from two high elevation sites appear retentive to 3He over 10 kyr timescales, whereas two additional sites clearly suffer from diffusive loss of 3He. Step-degassing experiments suggest that diffusion in calcite is controlled by multiple diffusion domains, with an apparent activation energy of 25–27 kcal mol−1. Although minor 3He loss is expected from the smallest diffusion domains, the observed kinetics cannot explain the poor retention at all sites. We thus propose that opaque (non-transparent) calcite may be more retentive due to the presence of imperfections in the crystal lattice. We conclude that 3He dating of calcite shows promise in some settings. However, because retention depends on crystallographic variability it must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis until robust criteria for retention can be identified.