Cosmogenic radionuclides on LDEF: An unexpected Be-10 result

Following the discovery of the atmospheric derived cosmogenic radionuclide Be-7 on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a search began for other known nuclides produced by similar mechanisms. None of the others have the narrow gamma-ray line emission of Be-7 decay which enabled its rapid detection and quantification. A search for Be-10 atoms on LDEF clamp plates using accelerator mass spectrometry is described. An unexpected result was obtained

Reactions of a Be-10 beam on proton and deuteron targets

The extraction of detailed nuclear structure information from transfer reactions requires reliable, well-normalized data as well as optical potentials and a theoretical framework demonstrated to work well in the relevant mass and beam energy ranges. It is rare that the theoretical ingredients can be tested well for exotic nuclei owing to the paucity of data. The halo nucleus Be-11 has been examined through the 10Be(d,p) reaction in inverse kinematics at equivalent deuteron energies of 12,15,18, and 21.4 MeV. Elastic scattering of Be-10 on protons was used to select optical potentials for the analysis of the transfer data. Additionally, data from the elastic and inelastic scattering of Be-10 on deuterons was used to fit optical potentials at the four measured energies. Transfers to the two bound states and the first resonance in Be-11 were analyzed using the Finite Range ADiabatic Wave Approximation (FR-ADWA). Consistent values of the spectroscopic factor of both the ground and first excited states were extracted from the four measurements, with average values of 0.71(5) and 0.62(4) respectively. The calculations for transfer to the first resonance were found to be sensitive to the size of the energy bin used and therefore could not be used to extract a spectroscopic factor.Comment: 16 Pages, 10 figure

Be-10/Be-7 tracer of atmospheric transport and stratosphere-troposphere exchange

The 10Be/7Be ratio is a sensitive tracer of atmospheric transport and stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE). Data from five NASA aircraft field missions (PEM: West A and B, Tropics A; SONEX; and SUCCESS) have been assembled to produce the largest data set of 10Be,7Be, and their ratio collected to date (\u3e300 samples). Ratios near 0.60 are indicative of tropospheric air with little stratospheric influence, while higher ratios are found in stratospheric air. Samples from the lower stratosphere were all collected within 2.5 km of the tropopause and had ratios \u3e1.27. Of these lower stratosphere samples only 16% had ratios in excess of 3.0, suggesting that higher ratio air resides away from the tropopause. Seasonality observed in the10Be/7Be ratios results from the downwelling of air with elevated ratios from higher in the stratosphere in the spring and summer (midlatitudes) and from the decay of 7Be during descent in the winter polar vortex (high latitudes). Our results illustrate the complexity of STE and some of the mechanisms through which it occurs, including tropopause folding, mixing associated with subtropical jets, and the effect of synoptic systems such as hurricanes and northeasters. The10Be/7Be ratio provides important information beyond that which can be derived from studies that rely on chemical mixing ratios alone

Strong pickup-channel coupling effects in proton scattering: the case of p + Be-10

The dynamic polarization potential (DPP) contribution to the effective proton-nucleus interaction, that is due to the coupling of deuteron channels, is evaluated by applying $S_{lj} \to V(r)$ inversion to the elastic channel $S$-matrix from coupled reaction channel calculations of proton elastic scattering. This was done for protons scattering from $^{10}$Be at 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 MeV; non-orthogonality corrections were included. We find a consistent pattern of a repulsive real and an absorptive imaginary DPP, with the absorption shifted to a larger radius. This is consistent with what has been found for proton scattering from the neutron skin nucleus $^8$He. The DPP is not of a form that can be represented by a renormalization of the bare potential, and has properties suggesting an underlying non-local process. We conclude that deuteron channels cannot be omitted from a full theoretical description of the proton-nucleus interaction (optical potential).Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX4, accepted by Phys Rev

Evidence from stable isotopes and Be-10 for solar system formation triggered by a low-mass supernova

About 4.6 billion years ago, some event disturbed a cloud of gas and dust, triggering the gravitational collapse that led to the formation of the solar system. A core-collapse supernova, whose shock wave is capable of compressing such a cloud, is an obvious candidate for the initiating event. This hypothesis can be tested because supernovae also produce telltale patterns of short-lived radionuclides, which would be preserved today as isotopic anomalies. Previous studies of the forensic evidence have been inconclusive, finding a pattern of isotopes differing from that produced in conventional supernova models. Here we argue that these difficulties either do not arise or are mitigated if the initiating supernova was a special type, low in mass and explosion energy. Key to our conclusion is the demonstration that short-lived Be-10 can be readily synthesized in such supernovae by neutrino interactions, while anomalies in stable isotopes are suppressed.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Nature Communication

Cosmogenic Be-10 and Cl-36 in Magnetite

Cosmogenic nuclides are widely used to assess catchment-averaged denudation rates, although the method has been largely limited to the nuclide 10Be in the target mineral quartz. This is because (a) quartz is resistant to weathering, (b) the production rate of 10Be in quartz has been extensively studied and is well-constrained, and (c) quartz may be reliably separated from other minerals and cleaned of meteoric 10Be. Denudation rates have remained difficult to measure in volcanic landscapes due to a lack of quartz and the rapid weathering of olivine and other alternative target minerals. This creates an interest in developing new target minerals that may be used to reliably determine denudation rates where quartz is absent. Magnetite is a promising target mineral candidate in several regards: (a) it is present in a range of rock types, including many basic igneous rocks that lack quartz, (b) like quartz it is resistant to chemical weathering, and (c) it may be collected in bulk and purified using simple magnetic separation techniques. In this thesis, procedures intended to isolate the in situ-produced 10Be and 36Cl signals in magnetite and to prepare magnetite samples for 10Be and 36Cl measurement by AMS are presented. The production rates of 10Be and 36Cl in magnetite are then calibrated using late-Pleistocene age glacial erratics from the eastern Sierra Nevada, California and banded iron samples from a slowly eroding ridge in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Finally, the calibrated production rates are applied to determine denudation rates at 12 catchments in the Sierra Nevada region that encompass a range of weathering environments. The results produce production rate estimates of 2.13 +/- .08 atoms g-1 yr-1 for 10Be and 1.24 +/- .03 atoms g-1 yr-1 for 36Cl in pure magnetite at sea level and high latitude. Denudation rates from 10Be in magnetite are often biased low by residual meteoric 10Be, whereas denudation rates from 36Cl reproduce those from 10Be in quartz within the expected range of variability. Thus, 36Cl in magnetite may serve as a suitable nuclide/target mineral pair for determining denudation rates in the absence of quartz. However, more work is needed to precisely calibrate the production rate of 36Cl from titanium, which readily substitutes for iron in magnetite’s crystal structure, and to reduce the native chloride content of magnetite samples to negligible levels

The 10Be contents of SNC meteorites

Several authors have explored the possibility that the Shergottites, Nakhlites, and Chassigny (SNC) came from Mars. The spallogenic gas contents of the SNC meteorites have been used to: constrain the sizes of the SNC's during the last few million years; to establish groupings independent of the geochemical ones; and to estimate the likelihood of certain entries in the catalog of all conceivable passages from Mars to Earth. The particular shielding dependence of Be-10 makes the isotope a good probe of the irradiation conditions experienced by the SNC meteorites. The Be-10 contents of nine members of the group were measured using the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry. The Be-10 contents of Nakhla, Governador Valadares, Chassigny, and probably Lafayette, about 20 dpm/kg, exceed the values expected from irradiation of the surface of a large body. The Be-10 data therfore do not support scenario III of Bogard et al., one in which most of the Be-10 in the SNC meteorites would have formed on the Martian surface; they resemble rather the Be-10 contents found in many ordinary chondrites subjected to 4 Pi exposures. The uncertainties of the Be-10 contents lead to appreciable errors in the Be-10 ages, t(1) = -1/lambda ln(1 Be-10/Be-10). Nonetheless, the Be-10 ages are consistent with the Ne-21 ages calculated assuming conventional, small-body production rates and short terrestrial ages for the finds. It is believed that this concordance strengthens the case for at least 3 different irradiation ages for the SNC meteorites. Given the similar half-thicknesses of the Be-10 and Ne-21 production rates, the ratios of the Be-10 and Ne-21 contents do not appear consistent with common ages for any of the groups. In view of the general agreement between the Be-10 and Ne-21 ages it does not seem useful at this time to construct multiple-stage irradiation histories for the SNC meteorites

Reaction and proton-removal cross sections of 6^6Li, 7^7Be, 10^{10}B, 9,10,11^{9,10,11}C, ^{12N, 13,15^{13,15}O and 17^{17}Ne on Si at 15 to 53 MeV/nucleon

Excitation functions for total reaction cross sections, $\sigma_R$, were measured for the light, mainly proton-rich nuclei $^6$Li, $^7$Be, $^{10}$B, $^{9,10,11}$C, $^{12}$N, $^{13,15}$O, and $^{17}$Ne incident on a Si telescope at energies between 15 and 53 MeV/nucleon. The telescope served as target, energy degrader and detector. Proton-removal cross sections, $\sigma_{2p}$ for $^{17}$Ne and $\sigma_p$ for most of the other projectiles, were also measured. The strong absorption model reproduces the $A$-dependence of $\sigma_R$, but not the detailed structure. Glauber multiple scattering theory and the JLM folding model provided improved descriptions of the measured $\sigma_R$ values. $rms$ radii, extracted from the measured $\sigma_R$ using the optical limit of Glauber theory, are in good agreement with those obtained from high energy data. One-proton removal reactions are described using an extended Glauber model, incorporating second order noneikonal corrections, realistic single particle densities, and spectroscopic factors from shell model calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Ice Retreat History in Pine Island Bay, Revealed by Sedimentary Be-10 Records

Reconstruction of the past dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheets by studying records from their margin is essential to evaluate their stability and their contribution to future sea level rise. Recently, the first direct evidence for a paleo-subglacial lake on the Antarctic continental shelf was reported from a sediment core from a small bedrock basin in Pine Island Bay (PIB), West Antarctica. Here we report further evidence for this paleosubglacial lake based on down-core changes in Be-10 concentrations in the sediments. Very low Be-10 concentration in the lower part of the core indicate limited input of meteoric Be-10, suggesting deposition of the corresponding sediments in isolation from the open ocean. The Be-10 concentration shows a drop within a sand, silt and mud interval in the middle part of the core that was interpreted to result from deposition during the transition from the subglacial lake to a sub-ice shelf cavern caused by grounding line retreat in PIB around 11 kyrs B.P.. The Be-10 concentration increases significantly toward the top of the core, indicating the establishment of an open marine setting later during the Holocene. In addition, we report new Be-10 data from marine sediment cores in other parts of PIB. Our results demonstrate that Be-10 concentration changes in marine sediments from glaciated margins are a valuable recorder of ice sheet - ice shelf transitions