10Be signature of the Matuyama-Brunhes transition from the Heqing paleolake basin

Abstract

We present a new 10Be record spanning the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) reversal from the Heqing paleolake basin in southern China. It provides a robust proxy for past geomagnetic variations that can be compared with paleomagnetic records. The M-B transition is identified as a pronounced maximum of authigenic 10Be/9Be ratio between 768.6 and 778.5 ka, that is consistent with all other available 10Be-proxy records from marine, ice and loess archives. However, it is offset by approximately 0–60 cm depth from the magnetic signature of the polarity transition recorded in the same sediments. We attribute this offset to the lock-in effect of the remanence acquisition process, which is similar to the phenomenon that exists in marine sediments. We suggest that after eliminating the climatic-hydrological signal, the Heqing sediments may be used as an archive for atmospheric 10Be production rate changes. The combination of magnetic remanence measurements and the cosmogenic 10Be allows for a more precise geochronology of geomagnetic polarity reversals.