Like radiocarbon (14C), beryllium-10 (10Be) is a radioactive, cosmogenic nuclide formed through the interaction of high-energy cosmic rays in the Earth's upper atmosphere. As with 14C production, 10Be production rate is affected by variations in solar activity and changes in the Earth’s geomagnetic field intensity, which modulate the incoming galactic cosmic rays. Unlike 14C, which becomes incorporated into the global carbon cycle, 10Be is rapidly precipitated out of the atmosphere (with a mean residence time of one to two years). 10Be can therefore be utilised to more directly demonstrate past changes in upper atmosphere radionuclide production.
It is hoped that, through identification of particular signals of 10Be (significant maxima and minima) in the Lake Suigetsu (SG06) sediment profile, direct tie-points will be provided to other notable palaeoenvironmental records, such as those of the Greenland and Antarctic ice core records. As with tephrostratigraphy, the identification of such high-precision isochronous markers between sites greatly enhances our ability to discuss any leads and lags in the respective climate records of geographically-distant regions. If such spatio-temporal characteristics can be identified, this will greatly enhance our understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms of global climate change.