The effect of chemical and physical imperfections in zircon grains in influencing the U-Pb age analyses: Insights from zircon fission track etching

Understanding the chemical etching effects in the crystalline structure of zircon grains is crucial to know their chemical composition, morphology and isotopic geochemistry. After chemical etching, the zircon grain can be classified as homogeneous heterogeneous, hybrid and anomalous depending on the surface fission-track density observed under an optical microscope. The complementary techniques such as optical microscopy, micro-Raman...