Ultraprecise age and formation temperature of the Australasian tektites constrained by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar analyses

The Australasian tektites are quench melt glass ejecta particles distributed over the Asian, Australian, and Antarctic regions, the source crater of which is currently elusive. New Ar-40/Ar-39 age data from four tektites: one each from Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Australia measured using three different instruments from two different laboratories and combined with published Ar-40/Ar-39 data yield a weighted mean age of 788.1 +/- 2.8 ka (+/- 3.0 ka, including all sources of uncertainties) (P = 0.54). This age is five times more precise compared to previous results thanks, in part, to the multicollection capabilities of the ARGUS VI noble gas mass spectrometer, which allows an improvement of almost fourfold on a single plateau age measurement. Diffusion experiments on tektites combined with synthetic age spectra and Monte Carlo diffusion models suggest that the minimum temperature of formation of the Thai tektite is between 2350 degrees C and 3950 degrees C, hence a strict minimum value of 2350 degrees C.