Photoluminescence Imaging of Whole Zircon Grains on a Petrographic Microscope - An Underused Aide for Geochronologic Studies

The refractory nature of zircon to temperature and pressure allows even a single zircon grain to preserve a rich history of magmatic, metamorphic, and hydrothermal processes. Isotopic dating of micro-domains exposed in cross-sections of zircon grains allows us to interrogate this history. Unfortunately, our ability to select the zircon grains in a heavy mineral concentrate that records the most geochronologic information is limited by our inability to predict internal zonation from observations of whole zircon grains. Here we document the use of a petrographic microscope to observe and image the photoluminescence (PL) response of whole zircon grains excited under ultraviolet (UV) light, and the utility of this PL response in selecting grains for geochronology. While zircon fluorescence has long been known, there is limited documentation of its utility for and application to geochronologic studies. Zircon grains from 4 rocks, an un-metamorphosed igneous rock, two meta-igneous rocks, and a placer deposit were examined by a variety of methods including PL and Raman spectroscopy, and SHRIMP-RG U/Pb geochronology and trace analysis. The tabular data from these methods are reported in this data release.