Cosmogenic Radionuclides 10Be Research Articles

10Be content in clasts from fallout suevitic breccia in drill cores from the Bosumtwi impact crater, Ghana: Clues to preimpact target distribution

AbstractRocks from drill cores LB‐07A (crater fill) and LB‐08A (central uplift) into the Bosumtwi impact crater, Ghana, were analyzed for the presence of the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be. The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which target rocks of various depths were mixed during the formation of the crater‐filling breccia, and also to detect meteoric water infiltration within the impactite layer. 10Be abundances above background were found in two (out of 24) samples from the LB‐07A core, and in none of five samples from the LB‐08A core. After excluding other possible explanations for an elevated 10Be signal, we conclude that it is most probably due to a preimpact origin of those clasts from target rocks close to the surface. Our results suggest that in‐crater breccias were well mixed during the impact cratering process. In addition, the lack of a 10Be signal within the rocks located very close to the lake sediment–impactite boundary suggests that infiltration of meteoric water below the postimpact crater floor was limited. This may suggest that the infiltration of the meteoric water within the crater takes place not through the aerial pore‐space, but rather through a localized system of fractures.

River fluxes to the sea from the oceanʼs 10Be/9Be ratio

The ratio of the meteoric cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be to the stable isotope 9Be is proposed here to be a flux proxy of terrigenous input into the oceans. The oceanʼs dissolved 10Be/9Be is set by (1) the flux of meteoric 10Be produced in the atmosphere; (2) the denudational flux of the rivers discharging into a given ocean basin; (3) the fraction of 9Be that is released from primary minerals during weathering (meaning the 9Be transported by rivers in either the dissolved form or adsorbed onto sedimentary particles and incorporated into secondary oxides); and (4) the fraction of riverine 10Be and 9Be actually released into seawater. Using published 10Be/9Be data of rivers for which independent denudation rate estimates exist we first find that the global average fraction of 9Be released during weathering into river waters and their particulate load is 20% and does not depend on denudation rate. We then evaluate this quantitative proxy for terrigenous inputs by using published dissolved seawater Be isotope data and a compilation of global river loads. We find that the measured global average oceanic dissolved 10Be/9Be ratio of about 0.9×10−7 is satisfied by the mass balance if only about 6% of the dissolved and adsorbed riverine Be is eventually released to the open ocean after escaping the coastal zone. When we establish this mass balance for individual ocean basins good agreement results between 10Be/9Be ratios predicted from known river basin denudation rates and measured ocean 10Be/9Be ratios. Only in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific the 10Be/9Be ratio is dominated by advected Be and in these basins the ratio is a proxy for ocean circulation. As the seawater 10Be/9Be ratio is faithfully recorded in marine chemical precipitates the 10Be/9Be ratio extracted from authigenic sediments can now serve to estimate relative changes in terrigenous input into the oceans back through time on a global and on an ocean basin scale.

The geomagnetic dipole moment variation between 250 and 800 ka BP reconstructed from the authigenic 10Be/9Be signature in West Equatorial Pacific sediments

The authigenic 10Be/9Be ratio, proxy of the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be production rate in the atmosphere, was measured in sediments deposited in the West Equatorial Pacific (Gulf of Papua; 10°25 S; 146°15 E), in order to reconstruct the geomagnetic dipole moment variations in the 250–800 ka time interval, independently from paleomagnetic methods. The pelagic clayey-carbonate muds continuously deposited between marine isotope stages 8 and 20 were subsampled every 10 cm. The 10Be production rate record reconstructed for the 250–800 ka interval is described and compared over the same time interval with global paleomagnetic stacks (SINT-2000 and PISO-1500). The highlighted cosmogenic 10Be overproductions appear to be triggered by the series of Geomagnetic Dipole Lows (GDL) that have occurred since the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal. Calibration using absolute values of the geomagnetic dipole moment drawn from a paleomagnetic database produces a new record of the dipole moment variations over the 250–800 ka time interval. The timing and amplitude of the GDL succession revealed by such records will contribute to improving knowledge of the geodynamo rhythms and rate of changes at millennial to million year scales.

Calibration of cosmogenic noble gas production in ordinary chondrites based on 36Cl‐36Ar ages. Part 1: Refined produced rates for cosmogenic 21Ne and 38Ar

AbstractWe measured the concentrations and isotopic compositions of He, Ne, and Ar in bulk samples and metal separates of 14 ordinary chondrite falls with long exposure ages and high metamorphic grades. In addition, we measured concentrations of the cosmogenic radionuclides 10Be, 26Al, and 36Cl in metal separates and in the nonmagnetic fractions of the selected meteorites. Using cosmogenic 36Cl and 36Ar measured in the metal separates, we determined 36Cl‐36Ar cosmic‐ray exposure (CRE) ages, which are shielding‐independent and therefore particularly reliable. Using the cosmogenic noble gases and radionuclides, we are able to decipher the CRE history for the studied objects. Based on the correlation 3He/21Ne versus 22Ne/21Ne, we demonstrate that, among the meteorites studied, only one suffered significant diffusive losses (about 35%). The data confirm that the linear correlation 3He/21Ne versus 22Ne/21Ne breaks down at high shielding. Using 36Cl‐36Ar exposure ages and measured noble gas concentrations, we determine 21Ne and 38Ar production rates as a function of 22Ne/21Ne. The new data agree with recent model calculations for the relationship between 21Ne and 38Ar production rates and the 22Ne/21Ne ratio, which does not always provide unique shielding information. Based on the model calculations, we determine a new correlation line for 21Ne and 38Ar production rates as a function of the shielding indicator 22Ne/21Ne for H, L, and LL chondrites with preatmospheric radii less than about 65 cm. We also calculated the 10Be/21Ne and 26Al/21Ne production rate ratios for the investigated samples, which show good agreement with recent model calculations.

Occurrence Probability of Large Solar Energetic Particle Events: Assessment from Data on Cosmogenic Radionuclides in Lunar Rocks

We revisited assessments of the occurrence probability distribution of large events in solar energetic particles (SEP), based on measurements of cosmogenic radionuclides in lunar rocks. We present a combined cumulative occurrence probability distribution of SEP events based on three time scales: directly measured SEP fluences for the last 60 years; estimates based on terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclides 10Be and 14C for the multi-millennial (Holocene) time scale; and cosmogenic radionuclides measured in lunar rocks on the time scale of up to 1 Myr. All the three time scales yield a consistent distribution. The data suggest a strong rollover of the occurrence probability so that SEP events with the fluence of protons with energy >30 MeV greater than 10^{11} (protons /cm2/yr) are not expected at the Myr time scale.

The chaotic solar cycle

Context. The variations of solar activity over long time intervals using a solar activity reconstruction based on the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be measured in polar ice cores are studied. Methods. By applying methods of nonlinear dynamics, the solar activity cycle is studied using solar activity proxies that have been reaching into the past for over 9300 years. The complexity of the system is expressed by several parameters of nonlinear dynamics, such as embedding dimension or false nearest neighbors, and the method of delay coordinates is applied to the time series. We also fit a damped random walk model, which accurately describes the variability of quasars, to the solar 10Be data and investigate the corresponding power spectral distribution. The periods in the data series were searched by the Fourier and wavelet analyses. The solar activity on the long-term scale is found to be on the edge of chaotic behavior. This can explain the observed intermittent period of longer lasting solar activity minima. Filtering the data by eliminating variations below a certain period (the periods of 380 yr and 57 yr were used) yields a far more regular behavior of solar activity. A comparison between the results for the 10Be data with the 14C data shows many similarities. Both cosmogenic isotopes are strongly correlated mutually and with solar activity. Finally, we find that a series of damped random walk models provides a good fit to the 10Be data with a fixed characteristic time scale of 1000 years, which is roughly consistent with the quasi-periods found by the Fourier and wavelet analyses.

Timing of the last glaciation and subsequent deglaciation in the Ruby Mountains, Great Basin, USA

The timing of the last Pleistocene glaciation in western North America is becoming increasingly well understood, largely due to improved methods of obtaining numerical ages of glacial deposits and landforms. Among these, cosmogenic radionuclide surface-exposure dating has been widely applied to moraines of mountain glaciers, providing the framework for understanding terrestrial climate change during and since the last glaciation in western North America. During the Late Pleistocene, the Great Basin of the western United States hosted numerous mountain glaciers, the deposits of which can provide valuable records of past climate changes if their ages can be precisely determined. In this study, twenty-nine cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be surface-exposure ages from a suite of moraines in Seitz Canyon, western Ruby Mountains, limit the timing of the last glacial episode in the interior Great Basin, known as the Angel Lake Glaciation. Results indicate that deposition of a terminal moraine and two recessional moraines began just prior to ∼20.5ka and continued until ∼20.0ka. Retreat from the next younger recessional moraine began at ∼17.2ka, and final deglaciation began at ∼14.8ka. These ages are broadly consistent with cosmogenic surface-exposure ages from the eastern Sierra Nevada and the western Wasatch Mountains, in the western and eastern extremes of the Great Basin respectively. Furthermore, these ages suggest that the valley glacier in Seitz Canyon was at or near its maximum extent before and during the hydrologic maxima of Pleistocene lakes in the Great Basin, supporting previous suggestions that a cool and wet climate persisted in this region during the early part of the last glacial–interglacial transition.

A noble gas and cosmogenic radionuclide analysis of two ordinary chondrites from Almahata Sitta

Abstract– We present the results of a noble gas (He, Ne, Ar) and cosmogenic radionuclide (10Be, 26Al, 36Cl) analysis of two chondritic fragments (#A100, L4 and #25, H5) found in the Almahata Sitta strewn field in Sudan. We confirm their earlier attribution to the same fall as the ureilites dominating the strewn field, based on the following findings: (1) both chondrite samples indicate a preatmospheric radius of approximately 300 g cm−2, consistent with the preatmospheric size of asteroid 2008 TC3 that produced the Almahata Sitta strewn field; (2) both have, within error, a 21Ne/26Al‐based cosmic ray exposure age of approximately 20 Ma, identical to the reported ages of Almahata Sitta ureilites; (3) both exhibit hints of ureilitic Ar in the trapped component. We discuss a possible earlier irradiation phase for the two fragments of approximately 10–20 Ma, visible only in cosmogenic 38Ar. We also discuss the approximately 3.8 Ga (4He) and approximately 4.6 Ga (40Ar) gas retention ages, measured in both chondritic fragments. These imply that the two chondrite fragments were incorporated into the ureilite host early in solar system evolution, and that the parent asteroid from which 2008 TC3 is derived has not experienced a large break‐up event in the last 3.8 Ga.

Interception of atmospheric fluxes by Arctic sea ice: Evidence from cosmogenic7Be

[1] The natural cosmogenic radionuclide 7Be (T1/2 = 53.4 d) is supplied to the surface ocean from the atmosphere and, in the Arctic Ocean, can be used as a tracer of the efficiency with which sea ice intercepts the atmospheric fluxes of chemical species and of the importance of ice as a transport mechanism for particulate matter and chemical species. Analyses of 7Be in samples of surface water, surface sea ice, water beneath the ice, sea ice sediments, and precipitation from the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean show that the fraction of sea ice coverage determines the amount of 7Be in the surface water. When sea ice coverage is 80%, the water column inventory drops to 58 ± 20 Bq m−2. The 7Be inventory in sea ice is 39 ± 23 Bq m−2, and mass balance calculations show that sea ice can intercept 30 ± 18% of the atmospheric flux of 7Be during the studied period. We suggest that other atmospherically transported contaminants should be similarly intercepted. 7Be in the ice also can be used to estimate that the annual transport and release of sediment to the ablation area of the Fram Strait is ∼500 g m−2, a value comparable to previously measured fluxes in sediment traps deployed in the area.

On the Atmospheric Transport and Deposition of the Cosmogenic Radionuclides (10Be): A Review

Cosmogenic radionuclides, such as 10Be, are commonly used for reconstructing solar activity in the past. The interpretation of 10Be records, most commonly obtained from polar ice cores, is complicated by the mixing of 10Be in the atmosphere, its transport to polar regions and its deposition. Throughout the generations of 10Be studies these complications have been mentioned but never investigated on a physical basis. This manuscript aims to summarize the recent efforts to study the atmospheric transport of 10Be from its production to its deposition into the polar ice using three-dimensional physically based general circulation models (GCMs) of the atmosphere. These models represent our best understanding of the atmospheric processes up to date. The model studies indicate that the most important factor controlling the deposition response of 10Be to production changes is the fact that a major part of it (∼65%) is produced in the stratosphere where its residence time is long and it undergoes strong mixing. Therefore, in an ideal archive the 10Be concentrations will reflect the global mean production rate and hence changes in the solar activity. An explanation is offered for the partly different deposition responses of 10Be snow concentrations to production changes obtained with two different GCMs.

Constraints on the late Quaternary glaciations in Tibet from cosmogenic exposure ages of moraine surfaces

This contribution provides new constraints on the timing of Tibetan glacial recessions recorded by the abandonment of moraines. We present cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be inventories at 17 sites in southern and western Tibet (32 crests, 249 samples) and infer the range of permissible emplacement ages based on these analyses. Individual large embedded rock and boulder samples were collected from the crests of moraine surfaces and analyzed for 10Be abundance. We consider two scenarios to interpret the age of glacial recession leading to the moraine surface formation from these sample exposure ages: 1) Erosion of the moraine surface is insignificant and so the emplacement age of the moraines is reflected by the mean sample age; and 2) Erosion progressively exposes large boulders with little prior exposure, and so the oldest sample age records the minimum moraine emplacement age. We found that depending on the scenario chosen, the moraine emplacement age can vary by > 50% for ∼100 ka-old samples. We consider two scaling models for estimating the production rates of 10Be in Tibet, which has an important, although lesser, effect on inferred moraine ages. While the data presented herein effectively increase the database of sample exposure ages from Tibet by ∼20%, we find that uncertainties related to the interpretation of the 10Be abundance within individual samples in terms of moraine emplacement ages are sufficient to accommodate either a view in which glacial advances are associated with temperature minima or precipitation maxima that are recorded by independent paleoclimate proxies. A reanalysis of published data from moraines throughout Tibet shows that the variation we observe is not unique to our dataset but rather is a robust feature of the Tibetan moraine age database. Thus, when viewed in a similar way with other samples collected from this area, uncertainties within moraine exposure ages obscure attribution of Tibetan glacial advances to temperature minima or precipitation maxima. Our work suggests that more reliable chronologies of Tibetan glaciations will come from improvements in production rate models for this portion of the world, as well as a better understanding of the processes that form and modify these geomorphic surfaces.

Dramatic increase in late Cenozoic alpine erosion rates recorded by cave sediment in the southern Rocky Mountains

Apparent increases in sedimentation rates during the past 5 Ma have been inferred at sites around the globe to document increased terrestrial erosion rates, but direct erosion rate records spanning this period are sparse. Modern and paleo-erosion rates for a small alpine catchment (3108 m above sea level) in the Southern Rocky Mountains are measured using the cosmogenic radionuclides (CRNs) 10Be and 26Al in cave sediment, bedrock on the overlying landscape surface, and coarse bedload in a modern fluvial drainage. The unique setting of the Marble Mountain cave system allows the inherited erosion rates to be interpreted as basin-averaged erosion rates, resulting in the first CRN-based erosion rate record from the Rocky Mountains spanning 5 Myr. Pliocene erosion rates, derived from the oldest cave sample (4.9 ± 0.4 Ma), for the landscape above the cave are 4.9 ± 1.1 m Myr − 1 . Mid Pleistocene erosion rates are nearly an order of magnitude higher (33.1 ± 2.7 to 41.3 ± 3.9 m Myr − 1 ), and modern erosion rates are similar; due to the effects of snow shielding, these erosion rate estimates are likely higher than actual rates by 10–15%. The most likely explanation for this dramatic increase in erosion rates, which likely occurred shortly before 1.2 Ma, is an increase in the effectiveness of periglacial weathering processes at high elevations related to a cooler and wetter climate during the Pleistocene, providing support for the hypothesis that changes in late Cenozoic climate are responsible for increased continental erosion.

10Be evidence for delayed acquisition of remanent magnetization in marine sediments: Implication for a new age for the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary

Fluxes of the meteoric cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be vary with changes in the incoming cosmic rays modulated by geomagnetic field intensity variations. The variability in the 10Be flux can be used to synchronize ice cores, as well as marine sediments, by comparison with the relative paleointensity variations of the geomagnetic field. However, lock-in of the paleomagnetic signal at some depth below the sediment–water interface in marine sediments through acquisition of a post-depositional remanent magnetization (PDRM) adds uncertainty to synchronization. Despite the long history of such studies, the magnitude of the PDRM lock-in depth remains controversial. In this article, we present clear evidence for a downward offset of the paleointensity minimum relative to the 10Be flux anomaly at the Matuyama–Brunhes (M–B) geomagnetic polarity boundary, which we interpret to result from a ∼ 15 cm PDRM lock in depth. This lock-in depth indicates that up to several tens of thousands years of age offset probably occurs when a paleomagnetic record is used for dating marine sediments, and the age of the M–B boundary should be revised to ca. 10 kyr younger, which is consistent with a younger ice core derived age of 770 ± 6 ka (2 σ). This cosmogenic age tuning strategy will contribute to refining paleomagnetic-based age models for marine sediments and identifying of lead-lag relationships for global abrupt environmental changes.

Measurement of 10Be from Lake Malawi (Africa) drill core sediments and implications for geochronology

The cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be was measured from drill core sediments from Lake Malawi in order to help construct a chronology for the study of the tropical paleoclimate in East Africa. Sediment samples were taken every 10 m from the core MAL05-1C to 80 m in depth and then from that depth in core MAL05-1B to 382 m. Sediment samples were then later taken at a higher resolution of every 2 m from MAL05-1C. They were then leached to remove the authigenic fraction, the leachate was processed to separate out the beryllium isotopes, and 10Be was measured at the TAMS Facility at the University of Arizona. The 10Be/ 9Be profile from Lake Malawi sediments is similar to those derived from marine sediment cores for the late Pleistocene, and is consistent with the few radiocarbon and OSL IR measurements made from the same core. Nevertheless, a strong correlation between the stable isotope 9Be and the cosmogenic isotope 10Be suggests that both isotopes have been well mixed before deposition unlike in some marine sediment cores. In addition, the correlation of beryllium isotopes to a proxy of lake level TOC (Total Organic Matter) from Lake Malawi indicates that the concentrations of 10Be in the lake sediments result from the combined effects of global and local climates on lake level, local hydrology, and sediment transport in the Lake Malawi basin rather than as a direct response to its production in the atmosphere modulated by the intensity of the Earth's dipole. Therefore, a direct correlation of the 10Be/ 9Be to a chronology derived from the paleomagnetic variations measured from marine sediments was not possible. Nevertheless, a comparison of the 10Be/ 9Be chronology, allowing for decay, at Lake Malawi to that of the global marine paleomagnetic record suggests that the bottom of core MAL05-1B is no more than 750 ka in age.

On the importance of the local interstellar spectrum for the solar modulation parameter

Cosmogenic Isotopes are produced in the Earth's atmosphere due to the interaction of galactic cosmic rays with nuclei of atmospheric atoms. Among others, the 10Be concentration in ice cores depends on the galactic cosmic ray flux outside of the Earth's magnetosphere and provides therefore a unique tool to investigate the solar modulation over very long time periods. In this study we investigate the importance of different local interstellar proton spectra often used in literature obtained outside of the Earth's magnetosphere. In order to parameterize the heliospheric modulation we apply the force‐field solution using individual local interstellar proton spectrum (LIS) model dependent ϕ values. Thus among atmospheric and magnetospheric processes, the 10Be concentration depends on an interplay of the different LIS and their modulation parameters. Since 10Be measurements do not provide any spectral resolution, PAMELA data have been used for a comparison with the calculated spectra and to provide the model dependent modulation parameters during the solar minimum in July 2006. Within the limitation of the force‐field solution and the freedom in parameter space, all LIS lead to a reasonable agreement with the data. Taking the LIS dependency of the modulation parameter into account, we derive linear equations to convert the individual ϕ between the different LIS. The conversions used here are then applied to a long‐term reconstruction of ϕ derived from a record of the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be. By using the derived LIS conversions, we show that the occasionally observed negative ϕ values in the reconstruction of Steinhilber et al. (2008) vanish if another LIS model is used. In order to estimate other processes which alter this conclusion, the influence of the palaeo‐magnetic field has been included. Thus, if all inner‐heliospheric effects on the 10Be flux would be known, this investigation would have the potential to rule out certain LIS.

Identifying large chondrites using cosmogenic radionuclides

We measured the concentrations of the cosmogenic radionuclides 10Be, 26Al, 36Cl and 41Ca in the metal and stone fractions of three large chondrite showers to determine their pre-atmospheric size. Large chondrites are characterized by substantial contributions of neutron-capture 41Ca in the stone fraction (up to ∼2 dpm/gCa), low radionuclide concentrations in the metal fraction and high 10Be(stone)/10Be(metal) ratios. Based on the measured concentrations in comparison with calculated cosmogenic nuclide depth profiles, using a semi-empirical and a purely physical model, we conclude that these objects had pre-atmospheric radii ranging from ∼80 cm to >3 m. We conclude that the semi-empirical model is more reliable for spallogenic production rates in large objects, while the purely physical model is more reliable for neutron-capture products.

Total solar irradiance during the Holocene

For the first time a record of total solar irradiance covering 9300 years is presented, which covers almost the entire Holocene. This reconstruction is based on a recently observationally derived relationship between total solar irradiance and the open solar magnetic field. Here we show that the open solar magnetic field can be obtained from the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be measured in ice cores. Thus, 10Be allows to reconstruct total solar irradiance much further back than the existing record of the sunspot number which is usually used to reconstruct total solar irradiance. The resulting increase in solar‐cycle averaged TSI from the Maunder Minimum to the present amounts to (0.9 ± 0.4) Wm−2. In combination with climate models, our reconstruction offers the possibility to test the claimed links between climate and TSI forcing.

Cosmogenic nuclides in stony meteorites revisited

Abstract— We present new model calculations for depth and size dependent cosmogenic production rates in ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites by galactic cosmic rays. This model, essentially that of Leya et al. (2000a), folds together particle spectra and cross sections for the relevant nuclear reactions, but has been significantly improved due to major improvements in the neutron cross section database and better Monte Carlo modeling of the primary and the secondary particle spectra. The data presented here replace (and extend) the results of our earlier model predictions. Here we give for ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites elemental production rates for the cosmogenic radionuclides 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca, 53Mn, 60Fe, and 129I as well as for the noble gas isotopes 3He, 4He, 20Ne, 21Ne, 22Ne, 36Ar, and 38Ar. Using the new data and expressing size and depth scales to the unit [g/cm2], we are able to demonstrate that the matrix effect for both chondrite types is negligible for all target product combinations, except for those which are dominated by thermal or very low energy neutron reactions. Based on the new model predictions, we present a variety of elemental and isotopic production rate ratios allowing for a reliable determination of preatmospheric sizes, shielding depths, cosmic‐ray exposure ages, and diffusive losses.

The critical role of climate and saprolite weathering in landscape evolution

AbstractLandscapes evolve in response to external forces, such as tectonics and climate, that influence surface processes of erosion and weathering. Internal feedbacks between erosion and weathering also play an integral role in regulating the landscapes response. Our understanding of these internal and external feedbacks is limited to a handful of field‐based studies, only a few of which have explicitly examined saprolite weathering. Here, we report rates of erosion and weathering in saprolite and soil to quantify how climate influences denudation, by focusing on an elevation transect in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. We use an adapted mass balance approach and couple soil‐production rates from the cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) 10Be with zirconium concentrations in rock, saprolite and soil. Our approach includes deep saprolite weathering and suggests that previous studies may have underestimated denudation rates across similar landscapes. Along the studied climate gradient, chemical weathering rates peak at middle elevations (1200–2000 m), averaging 112·3 ± 9·7 t km–2 y–1 compared to high and low elevation sites (46·8 ± 5·2 t km−2 y−1). Measured weathering rates follow similar patterns with climate as those of predicted silica fluxes, modeled using an Arrhenius temperature relationship and a linear relationship between flux and precipitation. Furthermore, chemical weathering and erosion are tightly correlated across our sites, and physical erosion rates increase with both saprolite weathering rates and intensity. Unexpectedly, saprolite and soil weathering intensities are inversely related, such that more weathered saprolites are overlain by weakly weathered soils. These data quantify exciting links between climate, weathering and erosion, and together suggest that climate controls chemical weathering via temperature and moisture control on chemical reaction rates. Our results also suggest that saprolite weathering reduces bedrock coherence, leading to faster rates of soil transport that, in turn, decrease material residence times in the soil column and limit soil weathering. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pleistocene variations of beryllium isotopes in central Arctic Ocean sediment cores

Neogene marine sediments can be dated via decay of the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be. Two cores from the Alpha and Mendeleev Ridges in the Arctic Ocean have been analyzed for seawater-derived beryllium (Be) isotopes in order to date the sediments and to calculate sedimentation rates. The decrease of 10Be concentration in the cores was used to calculate first order sedimentation rates. To eliminate the dilution effect of beryllium caused by short-term changes in sedimentation rate and grain size, the 10Be concentrations were normalized to the terrigenous stable isotope 9Be determined in the same sample aliquot. The measured 10Be concentrations yield low average sedimentation rates for the Alpha and Mendeleev Ridges of 2.3 mm ka − 1 and 2.7 mm ka − 1 , respectively. Sedimentation rates calculated from the 10Be/ 9Be ratios result in similarly low values, ranging from 0.2 to 6.8 mm ka − 1 for the Alpha Ridge core and from 1.9 to 6.9 mm ka − 1 for the Mendeleev Ridge core. However, amino acid racemization dating for the past 150 ka of a core adjacent to the Mendeleev Ridge core studied here indicates significantly higher sedimentation rates than calculated from the downcore decrease of 10Be and 10Be/ 9Be. If such higher rates also prevailed at the locations of our cores, for which there is biostratigraphic evidence, either the supply of 10Be was much lower than assumed or that of 9Be was much higher. This could imply that the signature of the deep waters in this part of the Arctic Ocean compared to today was largely different for most of the past approximately one million years with a significantly lower 10Be/ 9Be ratio. Our study also addresses the variability of beryllium isotopes in sediment cores across the Arctic Ocean through a comparison of previously published results. Calculated 10Be fluxes reveal low values in the Amerasian Basin and highest values in the Eurasian Basin, near the Fram Strait. The decrease of Be isotopes in the two studied Amerasian Basin cores may thus have been caused by environmental factors such as significantly reduced inflow of Atlantic waters in the past, reduced input of 10Be and/or increased input of 9Be from the shelves, combined with a more efficient sea ice shielding in this part of the Arctic Ocean.