Cosmogenic 26Al/10Be surface production ratio in Greenland

The assumed value for the cosmogenic 26Al/10Be surface production rate ratio in quartz is an important parameter for studies investigating the burial or subaerial erosion of long-lived surfaces and sediments. Recent models and data suggest that the production ratio is spatially variable and may be g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Corbett, LB, Bierman, PR, Rood, DH, Caffee, MW, Lifton, NA, Woodruff, TE
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union 2017
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
Geology
BE-10 PRODUCTION-RATE
PRODUCTION-RATE CALIBRATION
NUCLIDE PRODUCTION-RATES
LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM
IN-SITU
ICE-SHEET
WESTERN GREENLAND
NORTHWEST GREENLAND
EROSION RATES
ARCTIC CANADA
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
MD Multidisciplinary
Arctic
Canada
Greenland
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/45628
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000396115000020&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071276
Description
Summary:The assumed value for the cosmogenic 26Al/10Be surface production rate ratio in quartz is an important parameter for studies investigating the burial or subaerial erosion of long-lived surfaces and sediments. Recent models and data suggest that the production ratio is spatially variable and may be greater than originally thought. Here we present measured 26Al/10Be ratios for 24 continuously exposed bedrock and boulder surfaces spanning ~61–77°N in Greenland. Empirical measurements, such as ours, include nuclides produced predominately by neutron-induced spallation with percent-level contributions by muon interactions. The slope of a York regression line fit to our data is 7.3 ± 0.3 (1σ), suggesting that the 26Al/10Be surface production ratio exceeds the commonly used value of 6.75, at least in the Arctic. A higher 26Al/10Be production ratio has implications for multinuclide cosmogenic isotope studies because it results in greater modeled burial durations and erosion rates.

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