Steven M. Reddy

Curtin University · School of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Atom probe tomography is an analytical technique that provides quantitative three‐dimensional elemental and isotopic analyses at sub‐nanometre resolution across the whole periodic table. Although developed and mostly used in the materials science and semiconductor fields, recent years have seen increasing development and application in the geoscien...

The geometry and composition of deformation-related low-angle boundaries in naturally deformed olivine were characterized by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and atom probe tomography (APT). EBSD data show the presence of discrete low-angle tilt boundaries, which formed by subgrain rotation recrystallisation associated with the (100)[001]...

The isotopic composition of water in Earth’s oceans is challenging to recreate using a plausible mixture of known extraterrestrial sources such as asteroids—an additional isotopically light reservoir is required. The Sun’s solar wind could provide an answer to balance Earth’s water budget. We used atom probe tomography to directly observe an averag...

To evaluate the mechanisms driving nanoscale trace element mobility in radiation-damaged zircon, we analyzed two well-characterized Archean zircons from the Kaapvaal Craton (southern Africa): one zircon remained untreated and the other was experimentally heated in the laboratory at 1450 °C for 24 h. Atom probe tomography (APT) of the untreated zirc...

Element mobility is a critical component in all geological processes and understanding the mechanisms responsible for element mobility in minerals is a fundamental requirement for many geochemical and geochronological applications. Volume diffusion of elements is a commonly assumed process. However, linear defects (dislocations) are an essential co...

Complex microstructures of pyrite induced by superimposed deformation and fluid infiltration in lode gold deposits can record time-integrated physicochemical changes of ore-forming fluids. This study used a combination of techniques (EBSD, μ-XRF, EMPA, APT, and TEM) to characterize and decode the microstructures of pyrite in an optically homogeneou...

The discordance of U–Th–Pb isotopic systems in geochronometers, and how such data are interpreted, are still major issues in the geosciences. To better understand the disturbance of isotopic systems, and how this impacts the derivation of geologically-meaningful ages, previously studied discordant monazite from the ultrahigh temperature paragneiss...

The impact of fluid infiltration on the deformation mechanisms that facilitate the development of lower-crustal ductile shear zones is evaluated through a multiscale structural, geochemical, and thermobaric analysis undertaken across a shear zone/wall-rock interface exposed on the island of Radøy in the Bergen Arcs (western Norway). At the outcrop...

Well-defined reconstruction parameters are essential to quantify the size, shape, and distribution of nanoscale features in atom probe tomography (APT) datasets. However, the reconstruction parameters of many minerals are difficult to estimate because intrinsic spatial markers, such as crystallographic planes, are not usually present within the dat...

Glassy melt inclusions are unique geological repositories that preserve evidence of the formation and evolution of mantle and crustal-derived magmas. However, the mechanisms responsible for their preservation in slowly cooled crustal rocks remain contentious, in some part due to their small size (commonly < 10 µm) and the technical difficulty in qu...

To test the potential of deformation twins to record the age of impact events, micrometre-scale size mechanical twins in shocked monazite grains from three impact structures were analyzed by atom probe tomography (APT). Shocked monazite from Vredefort (South Africa; ∼300 km crater diameter), Araguainha (Brazil; ∼40 km diameter), and Woodleigh (Aust...

This volume represents the proceedings of the homonymous international conference on all aspects of impact cratering and planetary science, which was held in October 2019 in Brasília, Brazil. This volume contains a sizable suite of contributions dealing with regional impact records (Australia, Sweden), impact craters and impactites, early Archean i...

Mining of “invisible gold” associated with sulfides in gold ores represents a significant proportion of gold production worldwide. Gold hosted in sulfide minerals has been proposed to be structurally bound in the crystal lattice as a sulfide-gold alloy and/or to occur as discrete metallic nanoparticles. Using a combination of microstructural quanti...

Impact cratering on the Moon and the derived size-frequency distribution functions of lunar impact craters are used to determine the ages of unsampled planetary surfaces across the Solar System. Radiometric dating of lunar samples provides an absolute age baseline, however , crater-chronology functions for the Moon remain poorly constrained for age...

Xenotime (YPO4) is an accessory phase common in low to high‐temperature geological environments. Xenotime is an established geochronometer, though its small size, low modal abundance, and textural complexity make it more difficult to analyse with traditional techniques but makes a prime candidate for nano‐scale analysis. In this study, we develop a...

Titanite is a common accessory mineral that is useful in determining both age (U-Pb isotopes) and pressure-temperature (P–T) conditions (trace-element composition: Zr, rare earth elements (REE)). However, titanite has a propensity to recrystallize during metamorphism, fluid flow, and deformation, which can result in modifications to its isotopic an...

Hydrous phyllosilicate minerals, including the serpentine subgroup, are likely to be major constituents of material that will be bought back to Earth by missions to Mars and to primitive asteroids Ryugu and Bennu. Small quantities (< 60 g) of micrometre sized, internally heterogeneous material will be available for study, requiring minimally destru...

Traditional approaches to develop 3D geological models employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative scientific techniques, which do not fully provide quantification of uncertainty in the constructed models and fail to optimally weight geological field observations against constraints from geophysical data. Here, using the Bayesian Obsidian software...

Sheltered inside crystals, mineral inclusions preserve crucial information on the geological history of our planet. These inclusions allow estimation of the pressure and temperature trajectories of metamorphic rocks, but also can tell about rock mineralogy, provenance, and geodynamic and petrogenetic processes. This information is recovered under t...

Mechanical twins form by the simple shear of the crystal lattice during deformation. In order to test the potential of narrow twins in monazite to record the timing of their formation, we investigated a ca. 1700 Ma monazite grain (from the Sandmata Complex, Rajasthan, India) deformed at ca. 980 Ma, by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), tran...

The highly siderophile elements (HSE) include the economically critical platinum group elements (PGE; Os, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, Pd, Au and Re), gold and rhenium. The HSE are redox sensitive in mantle and seafloor environments and have a strong affinity to iron and sulphur, therefore their distribution within the subducted mantle lithosphere record change...

Characterization of host rocks is an essential step towards understanding the genesis and history of sedimentary rock-hosted mineral deposits. Abra is a sedimentary rock-hosted polymetallic deposit, located within the Mesoproterozoic Edmund Basin, in the central Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia. Stratigraphic analysis of the Abra host rock, coup...

The geochemical analysis of trace elements in rutile (e.g., Pb, U, and Zr) is routinely used to extract information on the nature and timing of geological events. However, the mobility of trace elements can affect age and temperature determinations, with the controlling mechanisms for mobility still debated. To further this debate, we use laser-abl...

Monazite U‐Th‐Pb geochronology is widely used for dating geological processes, but current analytical techniques are limited to grains greater than 5 μm in diameter. This limitation precludes the analysis of both micrometre‐scale discrete monazite grains and fine textures within monazite crystals that are commonly found. Here, we analyse reference...

Cristobalite is a low-pressure, high-temperature SiO2 polymorph that occurs as a metastable phase in many geologic settings, including as crystals deposited from vapor within the pores of volcanic rocks. Such vapor-phase cristobalite (VPC) has been inferred to result from silica redistribution by acidic volcanic gases but a precise mechanism for it...

Atom probe tomography (APT) is used to quantify atomic-scale elemental and isotopic compositional variations within a very small volume of material (typically <0.01 µ m ³ ). The small analytical volume ideally contains specific compositional or microstructural targets that can be placed within the context of the previously characterized surface in...

Mantle melts provide a window on processes related to global plate tectonics. The composition of chromian spinel (Cr-spinel) from mafic-ultramafic rocks has been widely used for tracing the geotectonic environments, the degree of mantle melting and the rate of mid-ocean ridge spreading. The assumption is that Cr-spinel's core composition (Cr# = Cr/...

Goethite (α-FeOOH) is dispersed throughout Earth’s surface and its propensity to recrystallize in aqueous solutions determines whether this mineral is a source or sink for critical trace elements in the environment. Under reducing conditions, goethite commonly co-exists with aqueous Fe(II) (Fe(II)aq), which accelerates recrystallization by coupled...

Several examples of zircon grains from high- to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) and ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metapelites exhibit a characteristic, yet atypical, core–rim interface domain < 5-μm wide observed in cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging. The interface domain is located immediately against the magmatic core and is comprised of an irregular, 0–2-μ...

The extraction of tectonic lineaments from digital satellite data is a fundamental application in remote sensing. The location of tectonic lineaments such as faults and dykes are of interest for a range of applications, particularly because of their association with hydrothermal mineralization. Although a wide range of applications have utilized co...

Spatial Reconstruction of Atom Probe Data from Zircon - Volume 25 Supplement - D.W. Saxey, D. Fougerouse, W.D.A. Rickard, S.M. Reddy

Rugged peaks, large intermontane basins and frequent seismicity all characterize the active extensional tectonic setting of the southern Apennines. The Matese ridge typifies the active tectonic setting of the southern Apennines with steep carbonate mountain fronts and large depositional centres. Moderate to high magnitude earthquakes have affected...

The Hall–Petch relation has long been used to relate the yield strength of a metal to its grain sizes in which the effectiveness of grain size strengthening in the metal is dictated by the Hall–Petch coefficient (slope). Therefore, understanding the microstructural dependence of the Hall–Petch slope would be very useful in designing new high-streng...

Chemical zoning in minerals records fluid-rock interaction and crystal growth kinetics via texturally complex features, the genesis of which remains a subject of debate. Here, we combined nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) and atom probe tomography to better characterize trace-element zoning in a gold (Au)–rich pyrite crystal from...

The Singhbhum Craton and supracrustal provinces in eastern India are one of a few Precambrian terranes that record protracted sedimentation and magmatism spanning the Paleoarchean to Neoproterozoic. A paucity of robust geochronological and isotope geochemical data and the perpetuation of poor-quality data have hampered petrogenetic interpretations,...

In a hypervelocity impact event, the temperatures and pressures generated by the shock waves far exceed the values produced by endogenic processes. The shock-induced processes can modify the distribution of trace elements in zircon grains located in target rocks, potentially affecting the geochemical reliability of zircon, but also providing an opp...

In our study we explore the applicability of rutile as a pathfinder for orogenic gold deposits, which are an important source of this metal worldwide. We analysed rutile associated with orogenic Au deposits from three different Precambrian terranes, the Capricorn Orogen, the Barberton Greenstone Belt and the Ashanti Belt, all of which formed under...

Textural and compositional microscale (10-100 μm) and nanoscale (10-100 nm) zoning in a plagioclase phenocryst from a fresh, syn-mineralization diorite porphyry (Black Mountain porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Philippines) was characterized for major and trace elements using electron microprobe, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, a...

Since the introduction of laser-assisted atom probe, analysis of nonconductive materials by atom probe tomography (APT) has become more routine. To obtain high-quality data, a number of acquisition variables needs to be optimized for the material of interest, and for the specific question being addressed. Here, the rutile (TiO 2 ) reference materia...

This study reports a range of etching and annealing experiments to establish the optimum conditions for the etching of fission tracks in monazite. The previously reported concentrated (12M) HCl etchant at 90°C, was found to cause grain loss from epoxy mounts and high degrees of grain corrosion, as did much longer etching times at lower temperatures...

Traditional approaches to develop 3D geological models employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative scientific techniques, which do not fully provide quantification of uncertainty in the constructed models and fail to optimally weight geological field observations against constraints from geophysical data. Here, we demonstrate a Bayesian methodolog...

Understanding the mechanisms of parent-daughter isotopic mobility at the nanoscale is key to rigorous interpretation of U–Th–Pb data and associated dating. Until now, all nanoscale geochronological studies on geological samples have relied on either Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) or Atom Probe Microscopy (APM) characterizations alone, thus...

The poorly constrained nature of the physical transfer of sulfides along magmatic conduits has implications for the genesis and localization of mineral deposits as well as for understanding the large-scale mobility of volatiles and metals across different geochemical reservoirs. Our natural laboratory to address this topic is a sulfide-bearing ultr...

The Proterozoic Bryah and Yerrida basins of Western Australia contain important base and precious metal deposits. Here we present microtextural data, trace element and S isotope analyses of massive sulphide mineralisation hosted in Palaeoproterozoic subvolcanic rocks (dolerite) recently discovered at Red Bore. The small-scale high-grade mineralisat...

The timing of final assembly and initiation of subsequent rifting of Rodinia is disputed. New rutile ages (913 ± 9 Ma, 900 ± 8 Ma and 873 ± 3 Ma) and published zircon, monazite, titanite, biotite, muscovite and xenotime geochronology from the Capricorn Orogen (West Australian Craton) reveal a significant early Neoproterozoic event characterized by...

Unravelling the spatio-temporal evolution of orogenic terranes requires a comprehensive understanding of the duration and extent of metamorphic events and hydrothermal alteration. Commonly used minerals such as zircon and monazite may not fully record geological histories in complex tectonic settings because their elemental constituents do not reac...

Intracontinental rifting of the Capricorn Orogen was accompanied by the emplacement of mafic intrusions at c. 1080 Ma, contemporaneous with deposition of siliciclastic and volcanoclastic sediment in the late Mesoproterozoic Collier Basin. In this work we investigate the provenance of the Collier Basin sediment with U-Pb and trace elements data for...

The accretion of the Avalon and Meguma terranes to the Laurentian margin was a major event in the development of the Appalachian orogen. The Minas Fault Zone delineates the boundary between these terranes. A strongly lineated and foliated granite intrusion (Kelly Brook pluton) exposed along the West River St. Mary's Fault intruded into Meguma Super...

The extraction of geological lineaments from digital satellite data is a fundamental application in remote sensing. The location of geological lineaments such as faults and dykes are of interest for a range of applications, particularly because of their association with hydrothermal mineralization. Although a wide range of applications have utilize...

Intracontinental rifting of the Capricorn Orogen was accompanied by the emplacement of mafic intrusions at c. 1080 Ma, contemporaneous with deposition of siliciclastic and volcanoclastic sediment in the late Mesoproterozoic Collier Basin. In this work we investigate the provenance of the Collier Basin sediment with U-Pb and trace elements data for...

In recent years, atom probe tomography (APT) has been increasingly used to study minerals, and in particular the mineral zircon. Zircon (ZrSiO4) is ideally suited for geochronology by utilising the U-Th-Pb isotope systems, and trace element compositions are also widely used to constrain petrogenetic processes. However, while standard geoanalytical...

The Abra Pb-Ag-Ba-Zn-Cu-Au deposit in the Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia is primarily a lead and silver resource currently estimated at 47.8 Mt (indicated and inferred) of 7.3–10.1% Pb and 18–28 gt⁻¹ Ag, although significant Cu-Au zones are also identified. The deposit is unique within sediment-hosted Pb-Zn deposits for its low Zn content, sig...

Atom probe microscopy (APM) is a relatively new in situ tool for measuring isotope fractions from nanoscale volumes (< 0.01 μm³). We calculate the theoretical detectable difference of an isotope ratio measurement result from APM using counting statistics of a hypothetical dataset to be ± 4δ or 0.4% (2s). However, challenges associated with APM meas...

The Pb isotopic composition of rocks is widely used to constrain the sources and mobility of melts and hydrothermal fluids in the Earth's crust. In many cases, the Pb isotopic composition appears to represent mixing of multiple Pb reservoirs. However, the nature, scale and mechanisms responsible for isotopic mixing are not well known. Additionally,...

Common Pb, the portion of non-radiogenic Pb within a U bearing mineral, needs to be accurately accounted for in order to subtract its effect on U-Pb isotopic ratios so that meaningful ages can be calculated. The propensity to accommodate common Pb during crystallization, or later, is different across the range of U bearing minerals used for geochro...

The widespread use of monazite (LREEPO4) in U-Pb geochronology is underpinned by the assumption that it incorporates negligible amounts of Pb during initial growth, and that radiogenic Pb remains immobile after formation. We have investigated the nanoscale distribution of Pb in monazite from granulite facies rocks of the Sandmata Metamorphic Comple...

Geochronology techniques enable the study of geological evolution and environmental change over time. This volume integrates two aspects of geochronology: one based on classical methods of orientation and spatial patterns, and the other on ratios of radioactive isotopes and their decay products. The chapters illustrate how material science techniq...

Reliable geochronology is fundamental to our understanding of planetary evolution and the geological events that have shaped the Earth. Zircon has a robust crystal structure and is a key mineral in geochronological studies because it incorporates small amounts of actinides during growth. Currently, the best physical evidence for the presence of dif...