Apatite fission track data from basement samples of the western Greater Caucasus

Samples were collected from both bedrock and colluvial / fluvial medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks from the crystalline core of the range between 40.8°E and 43.1°E on either side of Mt. Elbrus.

Colluvial / fluvial samples were collected immediately downstream of actively eroding areas and were transported less than 8 km from their host outcrops. The sampling strategy was designed to generate data that overlapped spatially with previous data sets (e.g. Král and Gurbanov, 1996; Vincent et al, 2011; Avdeev and Niemi, 2011). All ages were calculated using dosimeter glass CN-5; (apatite) ζCN5 =339±5; calibrated by multiple analyses of IUGS apatite and zircon age standards [see Hurford, 1990].