We describe a new, fully automated extraction system for in situ ¹⁴C at PRIME Lab that incorporates more reliable components and designs than our original systems. We use a LiBO₂ flux to dissolve a quartz sample in oxygen after removing contaminant ¹⁴C with a lower-temperature combustion step. Experiments with new Pt/Rh sample boats demonstrated reduced procedural blanks, and analyses of well-characterized intercomparison materials tested the effects of process variables on ¹⁴C yields.

Cosmogenic nuclides like ¹⁰Be are rare isotopes created in rocks exposed at the Earth’s surface and can be used to understand glacier histories and landscape evolution. ¹⁰Be is usually measured in the mineral quartz. Here, we show that ¹⁰Be can be reliably measured in the mineral pyroxene. We use the measurements to determine exposure ages and understand landscape processes in rocks from Antarctica that do not have quartz, expanding the use of this method to new rock types.

In situ ¹⁴C’s short half-life (5.7 kyr) is unique among cosmogenic nuclides, making it sensitive to complex exposure and burial histories since 25 ka. Current extraction methods focus on quartz, but the ability to extract it from other minerals would expand applications. We developed MATLAB® scripts to calculate in situ ¹⁴C production rates from a broad range of mineral compositions. Results confirm O, Si, Al, and Mg as key targets but also find significant production from Na for the first time.

Deposits left behind by past glacial activity provide insight into the previous size and behavior of glaciers and act as another line of evidence for past climate. Here we present new age control for glacial deposits in the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, United States. While some deposits indicate glacial activity within the last 2000 years, others are shown to be older than previously thought, thus redefining the extent of regional Holocene glaciation.

We constrained deposition phases of fluvial sediments (NE Belgium) over the last 1 Myr with analysis and modelling of rare isotopes accumulation within sediments, occurring as a function of time and inverse function of depth. They allowed the determination of three superposed deposition phases and intercalated non-deposition periods of ~ 40 kyr each. These phases correspond to 20 % of the sediment age, which highlights the importance of considering deposition phase when dating fluvial sediments.

If topographical obstructions are present in the surroundings of sampling sites, exposure ages of rock surfaces need to be corrected. A toolbox for the ESRI ArcGIS software allows for quantifying topographic shielding with a digital elevation model, but it has only been validated with few field data. In this study, the output of the toolbox is evaluated with a more extensive dataset. If suitable elevation data are chosen, the toolbox provides a sound approach to determine topographic shielding.

When first introduced together with the depth profile technique to determine the surface exposure age, the linear inversion approach has suffered with the drawbacks of not incorporating erosion and muons into calculation. In this paper, we increase the accuracy and applicability of the linear inversion approach by fully considering surface erosion, muogenic production, and radioactive decay, while maintaining its advantage of being straightforward to determine an exposure age.

Cosmogenic nuclides are a tool to quantify denudation – the total removal of mass from near the Earth's surface. Chemical weathering can introduce biases to cosmogenic-nuclide-based denudation rates measurements. Here, we investigate the effects of weathering on cosmogenic nuclides and develop tools to correct for this influence. Our results highlight which additional measurements are required to determine accurate denudation rates in regions where weathering is not negligible.

We used cosmogenic radionuclides in detrital river sediment to measure erosion rates of watersheds in central Cuba; erosion rates are lower than rock dissolution rates in lowland watersheds. Data from two different cosmogenic nuclides suggest that some basins may have a mixed layer deeper than is typically modeled and could have experienced significant burial after or during exposure. We conclude that significant mass loss may occur at depth through chemical weathering processes.

Cosmogenic nuclides are now widely applied in the Earth sciences; however, more recent applications often push the analytical limits of the technique. Our study presents a comprehensive method for analysis of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al samples down to isotope concentrations of a few thousand atoms per gram of sample, which opens the door to new and more varied applications of cosmogenic nuclide analysis.

We explored surface exposure dating with two nuclides to date two sets of moraines from the Yukon Territory and explain the reasoning for the observed ages. Results suggest multiple processes, including preservation of nuclides from a prior exposure period, and later erosion of the moraines is required to explain the data. Our results only allow for the older moraines to date to Marine Isotope Stage 3 or 4 and the younger moraines to date to the very earliest Holocene.

We present a record of ice retreat from the northern Alexander Archipelago, Alaska. During the last ice age (~ 26 000–19 000 years ago), these islands were covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. We tested whether islands were ice-free during the last ice age for human migrants moving from Asia to the Americas. We found that these islands became ice-free between ~ 15 100 years ago and ~ 16 000 years ago, and thus these islands were not suitable for human habitation during the last ice age.

We develop in situ-produced terrestrial cosmogenic krypton as a new tool to date and quantify Earth surface processes, the motivation being the availability of six stable isotopes and one radioactive isotope (⁸¹Kr, half-life 229 kyr) and of an extremely weathering-resistant target mineral (zircon). We provide proof of principle that terrestrial Kr_it can be quantified and used to unravel Earth surface processes.

Cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating is commonly used to constrain the timing of past glacier extents. However, Antarctic exposure age datasets are often scattered and difficult to interpret. We compile new and existing exposure ages of a glacial deposit with independently known age constraints and identify surface processes that increase or reduce the likelihood of exposure age scatter. Then we present new data for a previously unmapped and undated older deposit from the same region.

We describe the design and performance of a new noble gas mass laboratory dedicated to the development of and application to cosmogenic nuclides at the University of Cologne (Germany). At the core of the laboratory are a state-of-the-art high-mass-resolution multicollector Helix MCPlus (Thermo-Fisher) noble gas mass spectrometer and a novel custom-designed automated extraction line, including a laser-powered extraction furnace. Performance was tested with intercomparison (CREU-1) material.

We use microCT scanning to improve the quality of ³He exposure ages measured in detrital magnetite. We show that the presence of inclusions can significantly increase the measured amount of ³He and thereby the exposure age. By prescreening magnetite with microCT and analyzing only inclusion-free grains, this problem can be avoided. We also calibrate the cosmogenic ³He production rate in magnetite relative to ¹⁰Be in quartz, which can be used for similar studies in the future.

Meteoric beryllium-10 concentrations in soil profiles have great capacity to quantify Earth surface processes, such as erosion rates and landform ages. However, determining these requires an accurate estimate of the delivery rate of this isotope to local sites. Here, we present a new method to constrain the long-term delivery rate to an eroding western US site, compare it against existing delivery rate estimates (revealing considerable disagreement between methods), and suggest best practices.

We investigate the timing and rate of retreat for three alpine glaciers in the southern Rocky Mountains to test whether they followed the pattern of global climate change or were majorly influenced by regional forcing mechanisms. We find that the latter is most likely for these glaciers. Our conclusions are based on a new ¹⁰Be chronology of alpine glacier retreat. We quantify retreat rates for each valley using the BACON program in R, which may be of interest for the audience of Geochronology.

Geologic dating methods generally do not directly measure ages. Instead, interpreting a geochemical measurement as an age requires a middle layer of calculations and supporting data, and the fact that this layer continually improves is an obstacle to synoptic analysis of geochronological data. This paper describes a prototype data management and analysis system that addresses this obstacle by making the middle-layer calculations transparent and dynamic to the user.

This article applies a new geochemical dating method to determine the age of sedimentary deposits useful in reconstructing slip rates on a major fault system.