The dataset contain full 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data completed by multi collector noble gas mass spectrometry on plagioclase and glass separates from a tuff sample interbedded in Pleistocene marine claystone (Argille di Spadafora) of northeastern Sicily (Italy). Tuff unit VU7 was identified in the field using the published base map and stratigraphic nomenclature of Di Bella et al. (2016), which correlates to bathyal marine marl (Argille di Vito Superiore) in southern Calabria. The tuff contains stratified white lapilli with abundant fresh volcanic glass shards and was deposited by a submarine turbidity current from a single volcanic eruption.
The Ar laserprobe facility was realized with the financial support of CNR. The CO2 laser system was acquired within the PNRR – Mission 4, “Education and Research” - Component 2, “From research to business” - Investment line 3.1, “Fund for the creation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures” - Project IR0000025 MEET. EPOS JRU Italia is acknowledged for support in the Laboratory maintenance.
Geochronological data allowed constraining the tectonostratigraphic evolution of a European terrane stacked in the Western Alps and consisting of a Palaeozoic basement overlain by a Mesozoic metasedimentary cover. Four samples belonging to the basement have been analyzed. They correspond to two metasediments (VS113: 7°9'0"E, 45°9'8"N; VS114: 7°7'26"E, 45°9'0"N) and two orthogneisses (VS60: 7°9'8"E, 45°9'5"N; VS77 7°15'52"E, 45°6'54"N). Zircons from the studied samples were separated and analyzed to obtain the younger population age of the metasediments, and the crystallization age of the orthogneiss.
The southern margin of the Barberton Greenstone Belt in Eswatini limits one of the world’s oldest well-preserved sedimentary and volcanic sequences, 3.57 to 3.2 Ga old. In a segment along that margin, older mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks were thrust over the youngest strata (quartz-rich sandstones and conglomerates) before being folded and imbricated in thrust slices. Samples described in this publication comprise tabular data of (1) sample locations and crystallization ages of zircons which were extracted from thin tuffaceous units in the thrust sheet, (2) analytical data from laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), supporting these ages, and (3) quantitative measurements of ductily deformed conglomerate clasts. Field data were collected 2012-2019; U-Pb analyses performed in 2020. The data presented here are the basis for geological maps and cross sections, and are visualized as concordia diagrams form part of in the related publication (Heubeck et al.. 2023).