Recent progress of Be-10 tracer studies in Chinese loess

• Published in: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
• Main Authors: Zhou, Weijian, Xie, Xingjun, Beck, Warren, Kong, Xianghui, Xian, Feng, Du, Yajuan, Wu, Zhenkun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Chinese Loess; Be-10; Paleoclimate; Paleomagnetism; Brunhes-matuyama Polarity Reversal; Science & Technology; Technology; Physical Sciences; GEOMAGNETIC-FIELD INTENSITY; MAGNETIZATION LOCK-IN; COSMOGENIC RADIONUCLIDE PRODUCTION; MATUYAMA-BRUNHES BOUNDARY; DEEP-SEA SEDIMENTS; ICE CORE; SUSCEPTIBILITY; CLIMATE; RECORD; RECONSTRUCTION; Instruments & Instrumentation; Nuclear Science & Technology; Physics; Atomic; Molecular & Chemical; Nuclear; ice core
• Online Access: http://ir.ieecas.cn/handle/361006/5063; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2015.02.061

Studies of cosmogenic Be-10 in Chinese loess began about twenty-five years ago and since then a number of research groups worldwide have contributed to a firm understanding of the production, transport, deposition and storage of Be-10 in loess. The essential characteristics that make Be-10 a useful isotopic tracer in loess, include: (1) dominant atmospheric production directly linked to the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field; (2) climate-dependent deposition; and (3) subsequent immobility, so that as Be-10 accumulates in a loess profile its stratigraphic integrity is preserved. This fact, combined with very high deposition rates in loess on the Chinese Loess Plateau, makes Be-10 an especially valuable continental archive of paleoclimate and paleomagnetism, complementing marine and ice-core records. Here we provide in particular the most recent progress of Be-10 tracer studies in Chinese loess, including the determination of the correct age of the Brunhes-Matuyama polarity reversal at 780 +/- 3 ka B.P., in accord with marine and ice records, and quantitative reconstruction of 130-ka paleoprecipitation using Be-10 from Chinese loess profiles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.