Beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) is a

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form m ...

. It is formed in the Earth's atmosphere mainly by

cosmic ray spallation Cosmic ray spallation, also known as the x-process, is a set of naturally occurring nuclear reactions causing nucleosynthesis; it refers to the formation of chemical elements from the impact of cosmic rays on an object. Cosmic rays are highly ener ...

of nitrogen and oxygen. Beryllium-10 has a

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

of 1.39 × 10⁶ years, and decays by

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus, transforming the original nuclide to an isobar of that nuclide. For ...

to stable

boron-10 Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has ...

with a maximum energy of 556.2 keV. It decays through the reaction ¹⁰Be→¹⁰B + e⁻. Light elements in the atmosphere react with high energy

galactic cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

particles. The spallation of the reaction products is the source of ¹⁰Be (t, u particles like n or p): :¹⁴N(t,5u)¹⁰Be; Example: ¹⁴N(n,p α)¹⁰Be :¹⁶O(t,7u)¹⁰Be Because beryllium tends to exist in

solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Soluti ...

s below about pH 5.5 (and rainwater above many industrialized areas can have a pH less than 5), it will dissolve and be transported to the Earth's surface via rainwater. As the

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

quickly becomes more alkaline, beryllium drops out of solution. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be thereby accumulates at the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

surface, where its relatively long

(1.387 million years) permits a long residence time before decaying to ¹⁰ B. ¹⁰Be and its daughter product have been used to examine

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...

soil formation Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order (anisotropy) within soils. These alterations l ...

from

regolith Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestria ...

, the development of lateritic soils and the age of ice cores. It is also formed in nuclear explosions by a reaction of

fast neutron The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...

s with ¹³C in the carbon dioxide in air, and is one of the historical indicators of past activity at nuclear test sites. ¹⁰Be decay is a significant isotope used as a

proxy data In the study of past climates (" paleoclimatology"), climate proxies are preserved physical characteristics of the past that stand in for direct meteorological measurements and enable scientists to reconstruct the climatic conditions over a longe ...

measure for

cosmogenic nuclide Cosmogenic nuclides (or cosmogenic isotopes) are rare nuclides (isotopes) created when a high-energy cosmic ray interacts with the nucleus of an '' in situ'' Solar System atom, causing nucleons (protons and neutrons) to be expelled from the atom ...

s to characterize solar and extra-solar attributes of the past from terrestrial samples.

References

{{Authority control Isotopes of beryllium Radionuclides used in radiometric dating

See also

References