Uranium-lead dating method at the Pará-Iso isotope geology laboratory, UFPA, Belém – Brazil

ABSTRACT: Analytical procedures for U-Pb isotope dilution analyses at the Pará-Iso isotope geology laboratory of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) are described in detail. The procedures are applied to zircon, titanite, rutile, apatite, columbite-tantalite and whole rock. Reagent preparation and chemical processing are done in clean-room conditions. Samples are dissolved using Teflon™ microcapsules in steel jacket Teflon™ Parr Instrument™ bomb or Teflon™ screw cap containers. U and Pb are separated using anion exchange AG 1x8 resin columns. Typical blanks for mineral sample amounts of 0.01 to 1.0 mg are less than 1 pg U and 20-30 pg Pb. Isotope analysis of the U and Pb from the same filament are carried out using a Finnigan MAT 262 mass-spectrometer in static and dynamic modes. The current analytical level is demonstrated on analyses of international standard zircon 91500 with three different ²³⁵U-²⁰⁵Pb and ²³⁵U-²⁰⁸Pb isotope tracers and whole rock standards. Results of analyses of two zircon samples are also presented.

The columnar to equiaxed transition of horizontal unsteady-state directionally solidified Al-Si alloys

Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of thermal parameters on the columnar to equiaxed transition during the horizontal unsteady-state directional solidification of Al-Si alloys. The parameters analyzed include the heat transfer coefficients, growth rates, cooling rates, temperature gradients and composition. A combined theoretical and experimental approach is developed to determine the solidification thermal variables considered. The increasing solute content in Al-Si alloys was not found to affect significantly the experimental position of the CET which occurred for cooling rates in the range between 0.35 and 0.64 K/s for any of three alloy compositions examined. A comparative analysis between the results of this work and those from the literature proposed to analyze the CET during upward vertical solidification of Al-Si alloys is reported and the results have shown that the end of the columnar region during horizontal directional solidification is abbreviated as a result of about six times higher thermal gradient than that verified during upward unidirectional solidification of alloys investigated.