Takeshi Ohno

ABSTRACT Owing to high resistance to alteration, detrital zircons retain information about their formation ages and parental magmas for a long period of time. Many geochemical researchers have proposed various indicators for zircon to constrain tectonic settings and to identify source rock. Because most detrital zircons analyzed by geochronologic studies are derived primarily from granitoids, we focus on the classification of zircon within granitoids. In the style of alphabetical classification scheme (Igneous, I; Sedimentary, S; and Alkaline, A types), some discrimination diagrams have been proposed. To improve the database and enhance discriminating studies, we examined trace‐element compositions of zircons extracted from some Cenozoic granitoids exposed in the Japan Islands. The zircons showed systematic differences in Nb, Ta, Ce, and P contents. Zircons in Oceanic Arc I‐type granite are poor in Nb and Ta, and these signatures clearly reflect those elements in their parental bodies. Despite their low abundance at the whole‐rock level, zircons in Oceanic Arc I‐type granite are characterized by high Ce content. This is attributable to the relatively oxidizing conditions of Oceanic Arc I‐type magma. Zircons in S‐type granite are characterized by high P and low Ce contents. The former can be explained by high apatite solubility in Al‐rich magma, whereas the reducing environment of S‐type magma is accountable for the latter. The zircon crystallized at the later stage during S‐type granite solidification is slightly depleted in Nb and Ta. This is attributable to the depletion of these elements in the magma by Ti‐bearing minerals such as ilmenite prior to zircon crystallization. In analogy with whole‐rock composition, zircons in transitional I‐A‐type granite have intermediate composition between I‐type and A‐type zircons. On the basis of the updated database, we demonstrated that the Nb/P–Ce/P or Ta/P–Ce/P crossplots are the most useful for discriminating zircons in Oceanic Arc I‐type, I‐type, S‐type, and A‐type granites.

Experimental results are presented showing the variation in the relationship between odd isotopes of tin (Sn) in mass-independent fractionation caused by the magnetic isotope effect (MIE), which has previously only been observed for mercury. These results are consistent with the trend predicted from the difference between the magnitudes of nuclear magnetic moments of odd isotopes with a nuclear spin. However, the correlation between odd isotopes in fractionation induced by the MIE for the reaction system used in this study (solvent extraction using a crown ether) was different from that reported for the photochemical reaction of methyltin. This difference between the two reaction systems is consistent with a theoretical prediction that the correlation between odd isotopes in fractionation induced by the MIE is controlled by the relationship between the spin conversion time and radical lifetime. The characteristic changes in the correlation between odd isotopes in fractionation induced by the MIE observed for Sn in this study provide a guideline for quantitatively determining fractionation patterns caused by the MIE for elements that have multiple isotopes with a nuclear spin. These results improve our understanding of the potential impact of the MIE on mass-independent fractionation observed in natural samples, such as meteorites, and analytical artifacts of high-precision isotope analysis for heavy elements.