Discovery of beryllium-10 on the Pacific Sea ground: new dating method?

Discovery of beryllium-10 on the Pacific Sea ground: new dating method?

A team of scientists has discovered an exceptional accumulation of the radioactive isotope beryllium-10 in the Pacific Sea ground. This discovery, which was made by a research team of the Helmholtz Center Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR) in cooperation with the Technical University of Dresden and the Australian National University, could significantly expand the possibilities for dating geological archives. Beryllium-10 arises from cosmic radiation in the atmosphere and has a half-life of 1.4 million years, which means that it can be used for dating samples that go back more than 10 million years. These results were published in the journal Nature Communications .

The samples from which the high concentration of beryllium-10 comes from ferromy grinding, which have formed in the ocean for millions of years. The Beryllium 10 content was analyzed by means of an accelerator-mass spectrometry. The researchers found that the beryllium-10 content was almost twice as high as originally expected, which indicates a previously undiscovered anomaly in the Pacific Ocean.

possible formation of the anomaly

The scientists have set up two plausible hypotheses to create this anomaly. One possibility is changes in the octreatic circulation, especially near the Antarctic, which could have occurred about 10 million years ago. The second hypothesis indicates astrophysical events, such as a star explosion or a collision with an interstellar cloud. In order to finally clarify the cause of the anomaly, further measurement data are required.

The importance of this discovery could go beyond ongoing geological research. Beryllium-10 has the potential to serve as a global time marker for the synchronization of geological archives. Radionuclides of this kind are often used to date archaeological and geological samples.

The relevance of the beryllium dating

Beryllium dating represents an important method in geoscientific. According to Spectrum , this technology can not only be used to determine the age of archaeological foundations, but also for analyzing sediments in oceans and lakes become. The dating takes place by measuring the concentration of beryllium-10 in fixed geobilien or sediments, which enables precise time classification.

Overall, the discovery of the Helmholtz Center Dresden Rossendorf could revolutionize geoscientific research and open new perspectives for the time classification of geological erigents and archaeological finds.