10Be Measurements Research Articles

Hillslope denudation and morphologic response to a rock uplift gradient

Abstract. Documenting the spatial variability of tectonic processes from topography is routinely undertaken through the analysis of river profiles, since a direct relationship between fluvial gradient and rock uplift has been identified by incision models. Similarly, theoretical formulations of hillslope profiles predict a strong dependence on their base-level lowering rate, which in most situations is set by channel incision. However, the reduced sensitivity of near-threshold hillslopes and the limited availability of high-resolution topographic data has often been a major limitation for their use to investigate tectonic gradients. Here we combined high-resolution analysis of hillslope morphology and cosmogenic-nuclide-derived denudation rates to unravel the distribution of rock uplift across a blind thrust system at the southwestern Alpine front in France. Our study is located in the Mio-Pliocene Valensole molassic basin, where a series of folds and thrusts has deformed a plateau surface. We focused on a series of catchments aligned perpendicular to the main structures. Using a 1 m lidar digital terrain model, we extracted hillslope topographic properties such as hilltop curvature CHT and nondimensional erosion rates E∗. We observed systematic variation of these metrics coincident with the location of a major underlying thrust system identified by seismic surveys. Using a simple deformation model, the inversion of the E∗ pattern allows us to propose a location and dip for a blind thrust, which are consistent with available geological and geophysical data. We also sampled clasts from eroding conglomerates at several hilltop locations for 10Be and 26Al concentration measurements. Calculated hilltop denudation rates range from 40 to 120 mm kyr−1. These denudation rates appear to be correlated with E∗ and CHT that were extracted from the morphological analysis, and these rates are used to derive absolute estimates for the fault slip rate. This high-resolution hillslope analysis allows us to resolve short-wavelength variations in rock uplift that would not be possible to unravel using commonly used channel-profile-based methods. Our joint analysis of topography and geochronological data supports the interpretation of active thrusting at the southwestern Alpine front, and such approaches may bring crucial complementary constraints to morphotectonic analysis for the study of slowly slipping faults.

A study of the influence of tropospheric subsidence on spring and summer surface ozone concentrations at the JRC Ispra station in northern Italy

Abstract. The influence of tropospheric ozone on the surface ozone concentrations is investigated at the monitoring station of JRC Ispra, based on 10 years of measurements (2006–2015) of surface ozone data. In situ hourly measurements of ozone and other air pollutants, meteorological parameters, and weekly averaged 7Be (as an indicator of upper-tropospheric–stratospheric influence) and 210Pb measurements (as an indicator of boundary layer influence) have been used for the analysis. In addition, IASI + GOME-2 and IASI ozone satellite data have also been used. It is observed that frequently 7Be and ozone weekly peaks coincide, which might be explained by the impact of deep atmospheric subsidence on surface ozone, particularly during late spring and early summer. Based on this observation, a detailed analysis of selected 7Be and ozone episodes occurring during that period of the year has been performed in order to further elucidate the mechanisms of tropospheric influence on the surface pollutant concentrations. For the analysis, composite NOAA/ESRL reanalysis synoptic meteorological charts in the troposphere have been used as well as IASI satellite ozone measurements and NOAA HYSPLIT back trajectories. The JRC station hourly measurements during subsidence episodes show very low values of local pollution parameters (e.g., NOx, 222Rn, nephelometer data, PM10), close to zero. Conversely, during these periods ozone levels usually reach values around 45–60 ppb during the afternoon hours but also show significantly higher values than the average during the night and morning hours, which is a sign of direct tropospheric influence on the surface ozone concentrations.

The implications of sampling approach and geomorphological processes for cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating of marine terraces

Concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides in rocks at the Earth’s surface are routinely measured by AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) to obtain exposure ages. One particular application of this technique has been to derive ages for the formation of marine terraces, thus allowing constraints to be placed on rates of tectonic uplift. However, multiple rock samples from the same terrace surface have typically shown an amount of scatter in cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in excess of analytical uncertainties, potentially undermining the confidence in the resulting uplift rates. In addition, earlier works have considered the application of bedrock samples for exposure age dating marine terraces, but little attention has been directed towards the validity of sampling clasts exposed on terrace surfaces. Here, we use 10Be and 26Al measurements from a flight of marine terraces in northern Chile to compare the results from pebbles with those from bedrock samples and to investigate assumptions that sample pre-exposure and burial are negligible. We examine the influence that processes of surface deflation and pebble erosion will have on cosmogenic nuclide concentrations using a Monte Carlo model, the results of which are compared to our 10Be measurements. We find good agreement of 10Be concentrations between bedrock and pebble samples. At the sampled location, sample burial is rare and 10Be inheritance in pebble samples is low relative to the age of the terraces. Our modelling suggests that in arid environments, such as northern Chile, pebble erosion will be a secondary effect compared to surface deflation and that multiple periods of deflation will result in multimodal distributions of 10Be concentrations. More broadly, our findings show that measuring multiple surface clasts from a single marine terrace reveals the geomorphological processes influencing exposure ages, and may also be used to help identify the operation of past surface processes such as episodic deflation.

Measurement of beryllium-10 in terrestrial carbonate deposits from South China: A pilot study

Cosmogenic nuclides contained in the annual layers of natural materials record temporal variations in the galactic cosmic ray flux. 14C in tree rings and 10Be in ice cores from polar regions are often used to retrieve accurate histories of galactic cosmic rays. However, the variation in 14C produced in the atmosphere is strongly attenuated in the carbon cycle and the amplitude of decadal scale variations in tree rings is approximately 0.2‰. In the case of 10Be in ice cores, the variation remains at a relatively large amplitude; however, the records are accompanied by dating uncertainties. Another material that contains 10Be is sediment in continental areas. Terrestrial carbonate deposits sometimes form clear annual layers; however, detailed analyses on such deposits have not yet been widely conducted. Therefore, we evaluate the possibility of retrieving information concerning the galactic cosmic ray flux from the terrestrial carbonate deposits. In this paper, we report our preliminary results obtained from the measurements of 10Be in travertine and tufa samples from South China. We find that the 10Be flux obtained from the travertines is comparable to the level produced by galactic cosmic rays and that travertines might have potential as a tool for investigating past cosmic-ray variations with annual resolution.

Watershed-averaged denudation rates from cosmogenic 36Cl in detrital magnetite

Quartz is widely used as a target mineral for determining watershed-averaged denudation rates because it is resistant to chemical weathering, geologically widespread, and has a well-constrained 10Be production rate. However, quartz is not available in many landscapes developed on mafic to intermediate igneous rocks. This creates a need to develop new target minerals that are applicable in these environments. Magnetite is a common accessory mineral in many rock types without quartz and, like quartz, is resistant to chemical weathering. Here we evaluate magnetite's suitability as a target mineral by comparing denudation rates inferred from 36Cl in magnetite to 10Be in quartz at 12 watersheds in the Sierra Nevada region of California. We find that magnetite and quartz produce denudation rates that are in broad agreement, validating the use of magnetite. The reproducibility between the two minerals is comparable to the reproducibility of measurements of 10Be from repeat samples of quartz from a single catchment. This level of variance is likely attributable to the stochastic nature of erosion and sediment supply in small, mountainous watersheds.

Chlorine-36∕beryllium-10 burial dating of alluvial fan sediments associated with the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas Fault system, California, USA

Abstract. We apply cosmogenic-nuclide burial dating using the 36Cl-in-K-feldspar∕10Be-in-quartz pair in fluvially transported granitoid clasts to determine the age of alluvial sediment displaced by the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas Fault in southern California. Because the half-lives of 36Cl and 10Be are more different than those of the commonly used 26Al∕10Be pair, 36Cl∕10Be burial dating should be applicable to sediments in the range ca. 0.2–0.5 Ma, which is too young to be accurately dated with the 26Al∕10Be pair, and should be more precise for Middle and Late Pleistocene sediments in general. However, using the 36Cl∕10Be pair is more complex because the 36Cl∕10Be production ratio varies with the chemical composition of each sample. We use 36Cl∕10Be measurements in samples of granodiorite exposed at the surface at present to validate calculations of the 36Cl∕10Be production ratio in this lithology, and then we apply this information to determine the burial age of alluvial clasts of the same lithology. This particular field area presents the additional obstacle to burial dating (which is not specific to the 36Cl∕10Be pair, but would apply to any) that most buried alluvial clasts are derived from extremely rapidly eroding parts of the San Bernardino Mountains and have correspondingly extremely low nuclide concentrations, the majority of which most likely derive from nucleogenic (for 36Cl) and post-burial production. Although this precludes accurate burial dating of many clasts, data from surface and subsurface samples with higher nuclide concentrations, originating from lower-erosion-rate source areas, show that the age of upper Cabezon Formation alluvium is 260 ka. This is consistent with stratigraphic age constraints as well as independent estimates of long-term fault slip rates, and it highlights the potential usefulness of the 36Cl∕10Be pair for dating Upper and Middle Pleistocene clastic sediments.

Preliminary results of CoQtz-N: A quartz reference material for terrestrial in-situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements

There is growing interest in geochronological applications of terrestrial in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides, with the most commonly measured being 10Be and 26Al in quartz. To extract and then separate these radionuclides from quartz and prepare them in the oxide form suitable for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) requires extensive and careful laboratory processing. Here we discuss the suitability of a crushed, sieved and etched, sub-aerially exposed vein quartz specimen (CoQtz-N) to act as a reference material for chemical laboratory preparation and AMS measurements. Splits of CoQtz-N were distributed to eleven target preparation laboratories. The CoQtz-N 10Be targets were then measured at seven different AMS facilities and five of the preparation laboratories had their 26Al targets measured at four different AMS facilities. We show that CoQtz-N splits are sufficiently homogeneous with regard to nuclide concentrations, that it has been cleaned of any atmospheric derived (i.e. meteoric) 10Be and that it has low concentrations of the major elements that can interfere with Be and Al extraction chemistry and AMS measurements. We derive preliminary concentrations for 10Be and 26Al in CoQtz-N as 2.53 ± 0.09 × 106 at/g and 15.6 ± 1.6 × 106 at/g, respectively, at the 95% confidence limit.

Towards successful cleaning of chert samples for improved 10Be and 26Al measurements

In situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements are widely applied in geomorphological studies and in archaeology and paleoanthropology as a chronologic tool applicable to the past 5 Ma. While most of these measurements are made from concentrates of quartz, a ubiquitous and resistant mineral, it is of great interest to extend this method to other silicates and particularly to the amorphous silicates whose purification may not be as straightforward. This paper presents a cleaning procedure that has been applied on ten samples of various siliceous rocks (chert, granite and quartzolite). The aim is to monitor the 10Be, 27Al and 26Al concentration evolution as a function of cleaning steps. While this protocol appears suitable for 10Be, when measuring 26Al careful attention should be paid to 27Al, whose concentration should be measured regularly to ensure that a constant value is achieved and most important, allowing measuring 26Al/27Al by AMS.

Current status of JAEA-AMS-TONO in the 20th year

JAEA-AMS-TONO has been in operation at the Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency since 1998 and 20 years have passed from the beginning of its utilization. The AMS has been used to measure 14C, 10Be and 26Al. The main use is measurement of 14C in geological samples for dating studies in neotectonics and hydrogeology, in support of the research on geosphere stability applicable to the long-term isolation of high-level radioactive waste. In order to increase the speed of sample preparation, we introduced an automated graphitization equipment and made a gas-strip line to collect dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater samples. Measurement of 10Be and 26Al has been used for geoscience studies and the detection limit in the measurement of 10Be was improved. Recently optimization of AMS settings for 129I-AMS has been progressed.

In-situ and meteoric 10Be and 26Al measurements: Improved preparation and application at the University of Tokyo

Cosmogenic radionuclides have been widely used to decipher Earth surface processes. At the University of Tokyo Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (5 MV Tandem accelerator), we have been measuring both in-situ and meteoric cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al. In this paper, we report some development of methodology, including how to prepare target samples chemically to reduce their background. We then introduce some examples using the method to provide further insights into earth surface processes. These studies include: i) exposure dating to identify the growths and decays of the Antarctic ice sheet, ii) understanding ice shelf collapse history, iii) paleomagnetic excursion history reconstructions using ice cores, iv) understanding the erosion rates using depth profiles of mid latitude outcrops, v) identifying the timing of impact crater formation.

Performance of a new 1MV AMS facility (AURiS) at PRL, Ahmedabad, India

A 1 MV Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) has been installed at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India which is tuned for measurement of 14C, 10Be and 26Al and is fully operational. The facility is acronymed as PRL-AURiS (PRL-Accelerator Unit for Radioisotope Studies). Measurements on various reference materials, have demonstrated its ability to achieve precision for 14C, 10Be and 26Al to 2.2, 4.8 and 5.3‰ levels, with background values of 3.9 × 10−16, 5.8 × 10−16 and 1.6 × 10−14 respectively.

Temperatures recorded by cosmogenic noble gases since the last glacial maximum in the Maritime Alps

AbstractWhile proxy records have been used to reconstruct late Quaternary climate parameters throughout the European Alps, our knowledge of deglacial climate conditions in the Maritime Alps is limited. Here, we report temperatures recorded by a new and independent geochemical technique—cosmogenic noble gas paleothermometry—in the Maritime Alps since the last glacial maximum. We measured cosmogenic 3He in quartz from boulders in nested moraines in the Gesso Valley, Italy. Paired with cosmogenic 10Be measurements and 3He diffusion experiments on quartz from the same boulders, the cosmogenic 3He abundances record the temperatures these boulders experienced during their exposure. We calculate effective diffusion temperatures (EDTs) over the last ∼22 ka ranging from 8°C to 25°C. These EDTs, which are functionally related to, but greater than, mean ambient temperatures, are consistent with temperatures inferred from other proxies in nearby Alpine regions and those predicted by a transient general circulation model. In detail, however, we also find different EDTs for boulders from the same moraines, thus limiting our ability to interpret these temperatures. We explore possible causes for these intra-moraine discrepancies, including variations in radiative heating, our treatment of complex helium diffusion, uncertainties in our grain size analyses, and unaccounted-for erosion or cosmogenic inheritance.

Pleistocene Evolution of a Scandinavian Plateau Landscape

AbstractThe origins and Pleistocene evolution of plateau landscapes along passive continental margins of the North Atlantic have been debated for more than a century. A key question in this debate concerns whether glacial and periglacial surface processes have substantially eroded plateau areas during late Cenozoic climatic cooling or whether the plateaus have mainly been protected from erosion by cold‐based and largely nonerosive ice sheets. Here we investigate the Pleistocene evolution of a prominent plateau landscape in Reinheimen National Park, southern Norway. We estimate erosion rates across the plateau via inverse modeling of 141 new cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al measurements in regolith profiles and bedrock. We combine these results with sedimentological analyses of the regolith. In the vicinity of Reinheimen's regolith‐covered summits, the combination of uniformly slow erosion (<10 m/Myr) and near‐parabolic slope geometry suggests long‐term equilibrium with the presently active periglacial mass‐wasting processes. Outside summit areas, erosion is faster (up to >50 m/Myr), possibly due to episodic glacial erosion. Despite some indications of chemical alteration, such as grusic saprolite and small amounts of secondary minerals, the fine regolith comprises low clay/silt ratios and is dominated by primary minerals with no sign of dissolution. Together with our modeled erosion rates, this indicates that the regolith cover formed, and continues to develop, during the cold climate of the Late Pleistocene.

Meteoric 10Be in aerosol filters in the city of Seville

Cosmogenic radionuclides in the one-million-year half-life range, like 10Be, find application fields in several Sciences. They are powerful tools in Geology and Geochronology, as they are very important tracers on the Earth, being utilized as chronometer. Meteoric 10Be (T1/2 = 1.39 × 106 y) associated to aerosols can be used as a tracer of atmospheric processes and specifically as indicators of the cosmogenic interactions in lower Stratosphere, upper Troposphere, the air exchange between both and deposition processes on the Earth surface. The applications of 10Be are even more relevant when combined with other radionuclides such as 26Al. In order to provide new data about concentration 10Be in this type of samples, the first atmospheric air filters in Spain have been analysed. Values around 104 at/m3 (atoms per cubic meter of air) for 10Be have been obtained. Due to the location and the features of the sampling site (urban area, at sea level and mid latitude), a new radiochemical procedure was designed and developed in our laboratory for the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) measurement of 10Be in this kind of samples. The samples were measured in SARA, the 1 MV AMS system at Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA).

Lunar surface processes inferred from cosmogenic radionuclides in Apollo 16 double drive core 68002/68001

Measurements of cosmogenic 10Be, 26Al and 36Cl in Apollo 16 double drive core 68002/68001 are combined with a high resolution digital surface model of the sampling site to investigate the surface processes on the Moon. We find both a significant deficit of solar cosmic ray (SCR)-produced 26Al and a lack of SCR-produced 36Cl in the top 3–5 g/cm2 of the lunar regolith. The topographic model shows the core was taken from just inside a crater with a rim diameter of 25–30 cm. These observations are consistent with regolith removal and displacement by a shallow impact that occurred on the order of 100 kyr ago, or less. Our findings are also compatible with shallow mixing, or gardening, of the lunar regolith to depths of a few cm, a value often found in other lunar cores over the ∼106 yr averaging times of 26Al and 53Mn measurements. More definitive regolith mixing depth estimates are not possible due to the likelihood of disturbance in the top of the core as a result of sampling and/or handling. Our results support the hypothesis that the lunar surface experiences more frequent disturbances by small primary and secondary impacts than has previously been assumed. Additionally, we find no evidence that fine-grained ejecta from the 2.0 Myr old South Ray Crater impact reached this site. If the layer of fine-grained ejecta that reached the sampling site from the South Ray Crater was no more than a few cm thick, this absence can be explained by the erosion that formed the small, relatively recent crater at the coring location.

Further constraint of the in situ cosmogenic 10Be production rate in pyroxene and a viability test for late Quaternary exposure dating

Abstract Beryllium-10 (10Be) in quartz represents the most common in situ cosmogenic nuclide used for quantifying Earth-surface processes, primarily due to the prevalence of quartz in the Earth's crust. However many landscapes lack quartz-bearing rocks, thus other nuclide-mineral pairs are required for geochronometric and geomorphic applications. Here we describe the successful isolation and measurement of in situ 10Be concentrations in pyroxene from two mafic sample sets: (i) andesite boulders of the Murimotu Formation debris avalanche on Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand, and (ii) dolerite cobbles deposited in a ∼100 m vertical transect at Mt. Gran by Mackay Glacier, Antarctica. Precise radiocarbon age constraint of the New Zealand site provides further geological constraint of the reference (at sea level and high latitude) 10Be production rate in pyroxene, which we find to be indistinguishable from a previous estimate. Combining our results with previous data yields a reference production rate of 3.2 ± 0.8 at. g−1 yr−1 (n=5; ‘Lm’ scaling). Application of this rate to the glacial cobbles at Mackay Glacier yields a relatively coherent chronology of ice surface lowering between ∼14 and 6 ka, which is broadly consistent with a well-constrained quartz-based 10Be chronology from nearby nunataks. Improving the viability of in situ 10Be for geological applications in mafic domains requires increased analytical precision beyond current levels. This improvement may be best achieved by further modification of the quartz-based methodologies for 10Be purification, in order to better handle the high cationic contaminant loads of ferromagnesian minerals. In addition, further 10Be measurements from suitable mafic sedimentary deposits with independent age control (e.g. existing cosmogenic 3He calibration sites) will help to refine estimates of the reference production rate.

Springtime Beryllium-7, meteorology, and ozone variability in the southeastern United States

Ground level 24 h average observations of 7Be activity, combined with continuous ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and minimum relative humidity (minRH) measurements, were conducted at two non-urban sites in the Deep South of the United States. One site is inland at Yorkville, Georgia, YRK (33°55′27″N; 84°59′44″W); the other is near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico outside Pensacola, Florida, OLF (30°25′N:87°13′W). The objective of the measurements was to explore the potential for estimating a contribution to surface O3 from stratospheric and upper tropospheric air for during the springtime months from April 2 to June 13, 2015 using 7Be as a tracer. The observed 24 h average 7Be activities were 1.88 ± 0.66 mBq/m3 at YRK and 1.99 ± 0.68 mBq/m3 at OLF. Corresponding means of 24 h average O3 mixing ratios were 38.3 ± 10.1 ppbv for YRK and 28.7 ± 8.9 ppbv at OLF. A weak statistically significant O37Be regression based estimate of O3 from the stratosphere and upper troposphere was constrained to a conservative upper bound of 14 ± 4 (1σ) ppbv. From daily inspection of meteorological features, a lower bound of 3–7 ppbv was estimated. A multiple regression of O3 versus 7Be and daily minimum relative humidity (minRH) improved the statistical fit and indicated stratosphere-upper troposphere contributions of 8.6 ± 4.0 ppbv for YRK and 6.6 ± 3.3 ppbv for OLF. Daily variability of 7Be and O3 was explored with respect to meteorological variability. 7BeO3 relationships in this experiment were examined using (a) ozonesonde and vertical dew point temperature profiles, inferring very dry air as an upper atmosphere tracer descending into the boundary layer, (b) backward air trajectories, identifying 7Be spatial and temporal variation, and (c) precipitation, indicating 7Be scavenging and lowered O3 with suppression of photochemistry. The average 7Be measurements at the ground during the study are useful for helping estimate the long-term O3 contributions from the upper atmosphere. However, the day-to-day 7Be observations had limited value for determining the contributions of upper air O3 to daily O3 mixing ratios. Conventional surface and upper-air meteorological data could be used effectively as an alternative.

First 10Be measurements at Trondheim 1 MV AMS

The performance of the Trondheim 1 MV AMS system for 10Be measurements has been investigated. While the initial acceptance tests were done using the 1 + 1+ charge state, we concluded that the 2 + 2+ charge state offers superior measurement conditions. With this setting, the source-to-detector efficiency is 5.4 ± 0.2% and a 10Be/9Be background level of 3.4 ± 0.8·10−15 was achieved. Standard samples (n = 14) with a high 10Be content of 10Be/Be = 2.7·10−11 could be reproduced to a 0.4% precision, leaving counting statistics as the limiting uncertainty for most samples. The accuracy of the system was also tested using 5 secondary standards of different 10Be content. The results corroborate the precision achieved with the standard sample and demonstrate the accuracy of the system.

Characterization of the LEMA isotope separator to measure concentrations of 10Be from atmospheric filters

The understanding and measurement of 10Be is useful for earth science. Its way of production, deposition and mainly half-life allow phenomenological reconstructions of great interest on this area. In order to characterize the 1 MV isotope separator of the National AMS Laboratory LEMA (Laboratorio de Espectrometría de Masas con Aceleradores) at Mexico City for the measurement of 10Be concentrations, atmospheric filters with aerosols content were used. The filters were processed with a radio-chemical extraction procedure detailed here. Then, the prepared samples were pressed in cathodes and measured by using the AMS technique, tuning the machine till focus the optics on the beryllium peak. The preliminary statistical analysis of the 10Be/9Be ratios obtained from this characterization is presented in this work. Two statistical methods were used in order to improve the data information. With them, statistical stability behavior is observed on different campaigns of measurements. The results obtained comparing both methods are here discussed.

AMS and upcoming geochronology facility at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, India

Inter University Accelerator Centre, an ion accelerator centre, is in the process of setting up a national facility for geochronology. It will be a unique and first such facility in the country to provide the latest and exclusive instrumentation for the geochronological related studies to earth scientists of the country. Within this program various instruments are being installed and a 500 kV Pelletron Accelerator for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) has already been set up to measure 14C, 10Be and 26Al radionuclides. A sample preparation laboratory having three automated graphitization equipment and one carbonate handling system has also been set up. Other analytical facilities required for geochronological studies have also been established. This paper provides a brief description of new AMS system, graphitization laboratory for sample preparation, routine 14C measurements, 10Be and 26Al measurements and other instruments installed and planned within the geochronology facility at IUAC.