Abstract
The Donegal granites in north-west Ireland are among the best mapped granitic intrusions in the world1. They form part of a broad suite of granites intruded during the Palaeozoic but within a relatively small area encompass a wide range of emplacement features. A published Rb–Sr composite whole rode isochron for these granites defined a date of 487±5 Myr (refs 2, 3) whereas K–Ar ages exhibited a spread from 365±8 to 412±8 Myr (refs 1, 4). (All age data are normalized to recently recommended decay constants5). Although some doubt was cast on the older Rb–Sr date by Pitcher and Berger (ref. 1, p. 90) and Leake6 it has generally been accepted as a more valid estimate of the emplacement age2,3,7–9. Here we summarize the results of Rb–Sr and U–Pb isotopic analyses recently carried out which indicate that the Rosses, Ardara, Trawenagh Bay and Main Donegal intrusions were, in fact, all emplaced close to 400 Myr ago.
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Halliday, A., Aftalion, M. & Leake, B. A revised age for the Donegal granites. Nature 284, 542–543 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/284542a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/284542a0
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