The method is applicable in the time range of 10 2 to 10 6 years and at variable lithologies. This time range covers the entire Quaternary and Pliocene hence it has occupied a significant role among the tools of Quaternary geochronology.
Two stable noble gas nuclides are also important, the 3 He and the 21 Ne. Radioactive nuclides reach their secular equilibrium after half-lives, which defines the applicability range of the method. See more about the method in: Gosse and Phillips ; Dunai ; Granger et al. Exposure age of a rock is the time elapsed since it has been exposed to cosmic irradiation.
The measured TCN concentration is representative of the exposure age of the studied landform 1 if the formation of the landform was instantaneous and 2 if no surface denudation or 3 sediment accumulation has occurred since its formation. Glacial landforms, fluvial terraces and lava flows are among the most frequent targets of exposure age determination.
In case of steady erosion TCN concentration within the rock is approaching a secular equilibrium. The faster is the denudation the lower is the equilibrium level. Accordingly, on a surface of long term steady erosion TCN concentrations are suitable for the determination of the surface denudation rate.
The method is suitable for the quantification of surface denudation rates on uncovered or soil mantled surfaces and for the determination of average erosion rates of entire drainage basins. In contrast with exposure age and denudation rate determinations, burial age dating is based on the radioactive decay of cosmogenic nuclides.
Those rocks and sediments are suitable for burial dating which once were exposed to cosmic irradiation, but have been buried since then.
The time of burial shielding from cosmic rays can be determined using cosmogenic nuclide-pairs with different half-lives. River terraces show an up-warped pattern approaching the axis of the TR documenting differential uplift rates along the river.
Numerical age determination of the terraces is essential for the determination of the incision rate of the Danube and connected uplift rate of the TR. As a continuation of this work exposure age and denudation rate determination of aggradational terraces of the Danube using cosmogenic 10 Be depth profiles revealed that the onset of the incision of the Danube was probably triggered by the mid-Pleistocene climate transition between 1.
Quaternary sediments and landforms of aeolian origin suggest that the role of wind erosion in the Pannonian Basin was also significant during the Quaternary. Aeolian denudation was studied in the western part of the Pannonian Basin using in situ produced cosmogenic 10 Be depth profiles. This study enabled the quantification of local and regional aeolian denudation rates for the last 1.
New research launched, the GeCosMa project: Presentation of the new sample preparation laboratory.
Our laboratory is ready to process quartz-containing samples for the AMS measurement of their in-situ cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al concentrations. Main reasons for its popularity in geological applications: Cosmogenic 26 Al is usually used in pair with 10 Be. The laboratory doubles as a dark room for the preparation of silver salts.
High-energy cosmic rays shower the Earth's surface, penetrating meters into rock and producing long-lived radionuclides such as Cl, Al and Be We will analyze cosmogenic-nuclide inventories for a suite of six alpine-moraine systems in inland regions of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. This area is ideally.
The laboratory has a scrubbed fume hood for the use of hydrofluoric acid in rock digestion. The cosmogenic nuclide sample preparation laboratory is used for the initial pre-treatment of rock samples prior to digestion in the Be or Cl clean labs. The laboratory is equipped with a scrubbed fume hood, a standard fume hood, a multi-sample heated ultrasonic bath, and heavy-media separation equipment. Collaboration is possible for external projects, and also for cosmogenic isotope analysis and exposure dating on a quasi-commercial or commercial basis.