Hadean age for a post-magma-ocean zircon confirmed by atom-probe tomography

• Published in: Nature geoscience Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 219 - 223
• Main Authors: Valley, John W., Cavosie, Aaron J., Ushikubo, Takayuki, Reinhard, David A., Lawrence, Daniel F., Larson, David J., Clifton, Peter H., Kelly, Thomas F., Wilde, Simon A., Moser, Desmond E., Spicuzza, Michael J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.03.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/2151/209; 704/2151/330; Earth; Earth Sciences; Earth System Sciences; Geochemistry; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Heating; High temperature; Hydrosphere; Isotope ratios; Lava; Lead; Lead isotopes; letter; Magma; Minerals; Nanoclusters; Oceans; Oxygen; Oxygen isotope ratio; Oxygen isotopes; Radiometric dating; Silicates; Tomography; Zircon
• ISSN: 1752-0894; 1752-0908
• DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2075

The oldest minerals on Earth are thought to have formed in the Hadean eon, but the reliability of the dates has been questioned. Atom-probe tomography of an ancient zircon confirms that the mineral formed about 4.4 billion years ago, implying that any mixing event of the silicate Earth occurred before that time. The only physical evidence from the earliest phases of Earth’s evolution comes from zircons, ancient mineral grains that can be dated using the U–Th–Pb geochronometer 1 . Oxygen isotope ratios from such zircons have been used to infer when the hydrosphere and conditions habitable to life were established 2 , 3 . Chemical homogenization of Earth’s crust and the existence of a magma ocean have not been dated directly, but must have occurred earlier 4 . However, the accuracy of the U–Pb zircon ages can plausibly be biased by poorly understood processes of intracrystalline Pb mobility 5 , 6 , 7 . Here we use atom-probe tomography 8 to identify and map individual atoms in the oldest concordant grain from Earth, a 4.4-Gyr-old Hadean zircon with a high-temperature overgrowth that formed about 1 Gyr after the mineral’s core. Isolated nanoclusters, measuring about 10 nm and spaced 10–50 nm apart, are enriched in incompatible elements including radiogenic Pb with unusually high 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratios. We demonstrate that the length scales of these clusters make U–Pb age biasing impossible, and that they formed during the later reheating event. Our tomography data thereby confirm that any mixing event of the silicate Earth must have occurred before 4.4 Gyr ago, consistent with magma ocean formation by an early moon-forming impact 4 about 4.5 Gyr ago.