Noble gas geochronology

Our current areas of research include the inter-calibration of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar flux monitor minerals, development of high precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar methods for dating of young (basaltic and felsic) volcanoes with particular interest in implications for human origins (e.g. Omo-Turkana Basin, Kenya), geochronology of kimberlites and related rocks, the timing of various ore mineralisation (e.g. gold) events, orogenesis (e.g. Cape Fold Belt) and detrital mineral provenance studies.

Members of our group are active in the Thermochronology and Noble Gas Geochronology and Geochemistry Organisation (TANG³O). TANG³O is a voluntary association of Australian researchers in the fields of thermochronology, noble gas geochemistry, and geochronology for the purpose of optimising access to facilities and results, enhancing technical developments and technique implementation, and creating a forum for dissemination of technical advances and research results relevant to the Australian geochronological, geochemical, and geological communities. TANG³O was formed in 2008 to coordinate the re-equipment of Australia’s noble gas laboratories (e.g. ARGUS VI instrument at UoM) and to foster technical cooperation and research collaboration.

Ar-Ar Laboratory

Our research group manages and maintains the Victorian Institute of Earth & Planetary Sciences (VIEPS) Ar-Ar Laboratory. The laboratory includes two mass spectrometers for ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology (including the world's first multi-collector ARGUSVI system). The laboratory undertakes collaborative and commercial ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and thermochronology analyses for VIEPS partners, universities, government institutions and industry. For more information, contact Prof David Phillips.

PhD projects

We are currently offering several PhD projects related to the above research areas.

For further information, contact Prof David Phillips.

Recent publications (last 5 years)

2019

Blewett, S.C.J., Phillips, D., Matchan, E.L., 2019. Provenance of Cape Supergroup sediments and timing of Cape Fold Belt orogenesis: Constraints from high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of muscovite. Gondwana Research 70, 201–221.

2018

Heath, M., Phillips, D., Matchan, E.L., 2018. An evidence-based approach to accurate interpretation of 40Ar/39Ar ages from basaltic rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 498, 65–76.

Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., Traine, E., Zhu, D., 2018. 40Ar/39Ar ages of alkali feldspar xenocrysts constrain the timing of intraplate basaltic volcanism. Quaternary Geochronology 47, 14–28.

Matchan, E.L., Honda, M., Barrows, T.T., Phillips, D., Chivas, A.R., Fifield, L.K., Fabel, D., 2018. Production of 21Ne in depth-profiled olivine from a 54 Ma basalt sequence, Eastern Highlands (37°S), Australia. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 220, 276–290.

Moss, S., Marten, B.E., Felgate, M., Smith, C.B., Chimuka, L., Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., 2018. Geology, structure, and radiometric age determination of the Murowa kimberlites, Zimbabwe. Society of Economic Geologists Inc. Special Publication No. 20, 379–402.

Das, H., Kobussen, A.F., Webb, K.J., Phillips, D., Maas, R., Soltys, A., Rayner, M.J., Howell, D.  2018. The Bunder Diamond Project, India: Geology, Geochemistry, and Age of the Saptarshi Lamproite Pipes. Society of Economic Geologists Inc. Special Publication No. 20, 201–222.

May, V.R., Chivas, A.R., Dosseto, A., Honda, M., Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., Price, D.M., 2018. Quaternary volcanic evolution in the continental back-arc of southern Mendoza, Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 84, 88–103.

Phillips, D., Harris, J.W., de Wit, M.C.J., Matchan, E.L., 2018. Provenance history of detrital diamond deposits, West Coast of Namaqualand, South Africa. Mineralogy and Petrology 112(Suppl 1), 259–273.

2017

Fairmaid, A.M., Phillips, D., Wilson, C., 2017 . Episodic gold mineralisation correlated with discrete structural events at Ballarat East, southeast Australia. Ore Geology Reviews 91, 541-558 .

Giuliani, A., Campeny, M., Kamenetsky, V.S., Afonso, J.C., Maas, R., Melgarejo, J.C., Kohn, B.P., Matchan, E.L., Mangas, J., Gonçalves, A.O., Manuel, J., 2017. Southwestern Africa on the burner: Pleistocene carbonatite volcanism linked to deep mantle upwelling in Angola. Geology 45, 971–974.

Phillips, D., Matchan, E.L., Honda, M., Kuiper, K.F., 2017. Astronomical calibration of 40Ar/39Ar reference minerals using high-precision, multi-collector (ARGUSVI) mass spectrometry.Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 196, 351–369.

Oostingh, K.F., Jourdan, F., Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., 2017. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology reveals rapid change from plume-assisted to stress-dependent volcanism in the Newer Volcanic Province, SE Australia. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. doi:10.1002/2016GC006601

Titisari, A.D., Phillips, D., Prayatna, Setyaraharja, E.P., 2017. 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of Volcanic and Intrusive Rocks in the Papandayan Metallic Prospect Area, West Java, Indonesia. Resource Geology 67, 53–71. doi:10.1111/rge.12118

2016

Blewett, S.C.J., Phillips, D., 2016. An Overview of Cape Fold Belt Geochronology: Implications for Sediment Provenance and the Timing of Orogenesis, in: Linol, B., de Wit, M. (Eds.), Origin and Evolution of the Cape Mountains and Karoo Basin. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham.

Tian, Y., Kohn, B.P., Phillips, D., Hu, S., Gleadow, A.J.W., Carter, A., 2016. Late Cretaceous–earliest Paleogene deformation in the Longmen Shan fold-and-thrust belt, eastern Tibetan Plateau margin: Pre-Cenozoic thickened crust? Tectonics 35, 2293–2312. doi:10.1002/2016TC004182

Matchan, E.L., Joyce, E.B., Phillips, D., 2016. A new Ar-Ar eruption age for the Mount Widderin volcano, Newer Volcanic Province, Australia, with implications for eruption frequency in the region. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 63, 175–186.

2015

Lu, S., Phillips, D., Kohn, B.P., Gleadow, A.J.W., Matchan, E.L., 2015. Thermotectonic evolution of the western margin of the Yilgarn craton, Western Australia: New insights from 40Ar/39Ar analysis of muscovite and biotite. Precambrian Research 270, 139–154.

Gleadow, A., Harrison, M., Kohn, B., Lugo-Zazueta, R., Phillips, D., 2015. The Fish Canyon Tuff: A new look at an old low-temperature thermochronology standard. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 424 IS -, 95–108. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.003

Phillips, G., Offler, R., Rubatto, D., Phillips, D., 2015. High-pressure metamorphism in the southern New England Orogen: Implications for long-lived accretionary orogenesis in eastern Australia. Tectonics 34, 1979–2010. doi:10.1002/2015TC003920

Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., 2015. Corrigendum to “High precision multi-collector 40Ar/39Ar dating of young basalts: Mount Rouse volcano (SE Australia) revisited” [Quat. Geochronol. 22 (2014) 57–64]. Quaternary Geochronology 29, 116.

2014

Espanon, V.R., Chivas, A.R., Phillips, D., Matchan, E.L., Dosseto, A., 2014. Geochronological, morphometric and geochemical constraints on the Pampas Onduladas long basaltic flow (Payún Matrú Volcanic Field, Mendoza, Argentina). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 289, 114–129.

Matchan, E.L., Phillips, D., 2014. High precision multi-collector 40Ar/39Ar  dating of young basalts: Mount Rouse volcano (SE Australia) revisited. Quaternary Geochronology 22, 57–64.

Jourdan, F., Hodges, K., Sell, B., Schaltegger, U., Wingate, M. T. D., Evins, L. Z., Söderlund, U., Haines, P.W., Phillips, D., Blenkinsop, T., 2014. High-precision dating of the Kalkarindji large igneous province, Australia, and synchrony with the Early-Middle Cambrian (Stage 4-5) extinction. Geology, 42(6), 543-546.

2013

Phillips, D., Matchan, E.L., 2013. Ultra-high precision 40Ar/39Ar ages for Fish Canyon Tuff and Alder Creek Rhyolite sanidine: New dating standards required? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta121, 229–239.

Seiler, C., Quigley, M.C., Fletcher, J.M., Phillips, D., Gleadow, A.J.W., Kohn, B.P., 2013. Stratigraphy and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Santa Rosa basin, Baja California: Dynamic evolution of a constrictional rift basin during oblique extension in the Gulf of California. Basin Res 25, 388–418. doi:10.1111/bre.12004

Phillips, D., 2013. Kimberlites (K-Ar/Ar-Ar), in: Rink, W.J., Thompson, J. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 1–6