Uranium-lead isotope systematics and apparent ages of zircons and other minerals in precambrian granitic rocks, Granite Mountains, Wyoming

Zircon suites from the two main types of granite in the Granite Mountains, Wyoming, yielded concordia-intercept ages of 2,640??20 m.y. for a red, foliated granite (granite of Long Creek Mountain) and 2,595??40 m.y. for the much larger mass of the granite of Lankin Dome. These ages are statistically distinct (40??20 m.y. difference) and are consistent with observed chemical and textural differences. The lower intercepts of the zircon chords of 50??40 and 100+ 75 m.y. for the granite of Long Creek Mountain and granite of Lankin Dome, respectively, are not consistent with reasonable continuous diffusion lead-loss curves but do correspond well with the known (Laramide) time of uplift of the rocks. Epidote, zircon, and apatite from silicified and epidotized zones in the granites all record at least one postcrystallization disturbance in addition to the Laramide event and do not define a unique age of silicification and epidotization. The lower limit of ???2,500 m.y. provided by the least disturbed epidote, however, suggests that these rocks were probably formed by deuteric processes shortly after emplacement of the granite of the Lankin Dome. The earlier of the two disturbances that affected the minerals of the silicified-epidotized rock can be bracketed between 1,350 and 2,240 m.y. ago and is probably the same event that lowered mineral K-Ar and ages in the region. Zircon suites from both types of granite show well-defined linear correlations among U content, common-Pb content, and degree of discordance. One of the zircon suites has an extremely high common-Pb content (up to 180 ppm) and exhibits a component of radiogenic-Pb loss that is apparently unrelated to radiation damage. ?? 1978 Springer-Verlag.