Cosmogenic 26 Al/ 10 Be 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...
| Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
UVM ScholarWorks
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/casfac/20 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071276 https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/context/casfac/article/1021/viewcontent/BiermanCosmogenic.pdf |
| 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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