Apatite fission track data from southeast Ireland: implications for post-Variscan burial history

Abstract
The results of a reconnaissance apatite fission track study from southeast Ireland are compared with modelled ages and length distributions predicted using both traditional thermal histories and the thermal history indicated by the fission track age and length data. All samples have experienced total annealing during the Variscan orogeny. There is strong evidence for significant post-Variscan, pre-Mid Jurassic heating and cooling. The modelling also recognizes a third thermal event subsequent to 100 Ma. The implications of these results are examined in terms of the timing and extent of subsidence and inversion along the northern margin of the North Celtic Sea Basin.