Timescales of granite infancy - Improvement and alternatives on plutonic geochronology

Granite is a major constituent (>70 %) of continental crust on Earth. Dating granite is therefore of great importance to understand Earth’s formation. The aim of this study is developing an improved mineral age-dating technique by testing different minerals and measuring additional trace elements. The results shows that the additional trace elements can improve the reliability of age data by providing additional information of chemical conditions of the chemical clock. The results of the study have broad implications in mineral age dating techniques, and can also be directly utilised in other labs by following the suggested protocols.