16–17 April, 2014 (09.00 –18.00)
（讲座地点：中国地质科学院院内，具体会议室待定）
The accessory mineral zircon, ZrSiO4, is used widely in geochronology and is also considered as potential durable host material for the immobilization of radioactive waste. This mineral’s extraordinary physical and chemical resistance, however, are strongly affected by the accumulation of structural damage caused by the radioactive decay of traces of uranium and thorium.
The two-day short course comprises a general introduction to the metamictisation process, that is, phenomena of creation, accumulation and annealing of radiation damage. Resulting and accompanying property changes and their interpretation are discussed, including (i) the enhanced susceptibility of zircon to the loss of radiogenic lead and helium, (ii) features of chemical alteration, (iii) possibilities to use the degree of damage retention to conlusions on the thermal history, and (iv) changes of the luminescence and electron back-scatter behaviour.
Opportunities to determine the degree of structural damage non-destructively on a micrometer scale by micro-spectroscopy are presented, and applications are discussed. Also, recent progress in the quantitative estimate of irradiation effects in zircon and other minerals (including monazite and diamond) by ion-irradiation experiments on bulk samples and focused ion beam foils will be presented.
Cross-polarised light image of a heterogeneously radiation-damaged zircon (length ~370 mm) from the Adirondack Mountains, New York State.
Lectures by Professor Lutz Nasdala (Vienna, Austria)
Lutz Nasdala is a mineralogist who obtained his Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Freiberg Mining Academy, Germany. He had Postdoc positions at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, U.S.A., Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, and Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany. In 2006–2009 he was awarded the first Marie Curie Excellence Chair in Mineralogy, funded by the European Commission. Nasdala is now full professor for mineralogy and spectroscopy and head of the Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography, University of Vienna Austria. His research interests are in the area of mineralogy and mineral physics and include, among others, defects and internal textures of minerals, phenomena of radiation damage, gem materials, and further development and implementation of non-destructive micro-spectroscopy techniques in geoscientific research.