Abstract
10 Be, a cosmogenic isotope produced by cosmic rays interacting with the Earth ’s atmosphere and surface, has chemical and physical properties that make it useful as a tracer for some terrestrial processes and a geological clock for a few substances. The rarity of the stable isotope, 9 Be, allows 10 Be to be detected in natural materials at extremely low levels with backgrounds for rocks, sediments etc. below 105 atom g -1 now attainable, a value to be com pared with an average annual global deposition rate of 1.3 x 10 6 atom cm -2. The affinity of Be for the components of soil and sediment is sufficiently high that its contact with them effectively immobilizes it, thereby allowing 10 Be to function as a tracer of sediment transport. The half-life of 1.5 Ma is convenient for some geological studies. Application has been found in cosmic-ray history, formation of manganese nodules, pelagic sedimentation, island-arc volcanism, soil evolution, soil erosion and rock weathering.
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