Authigenic 10Be/9Be ratios were measured along a sediment core collected in the west equatorial Pacific in order to reconstruct cosmogenic 10Be production variations near the equator, where the geomagnetic modulation is maximum. From 60 to 20 ka, the single significant 10Be production impulse recorded at 41 ka results from the geomagnetic dipole low that triggered the Laschamp excursion. No significant 10Be overproduction signature is recorded at the age of the Mono Lake excursion (∼34 ka). A compilation of authigenic 10Be/9Be records obtained from sediments was averaged over a 1 kyr window and compared with the 1 kyr averaged 10Be flux record of Greenland ice cores. Their remarkable similarity demonstrates that 10Be production is globally modulated by geomagnetic dipole variations and redistributed by atmosphere dynamics. After calibration using absolute values of the virtual dipole moment drawn from paleomagnetic database, the authigenic 10Be/9Be stack allows reconstructing the geomagnetic dipole moment variations over the 20–50 ka time interval. Between 48 and 41 ka, the dipole moment collapsed at a rate of −1.5 × 1022 A m2 kyr−1, which will be an interesting criterion for the assessment of the loss rate of the historical field and the comparison of dipole moment loss prior to excursions and reversals. After a 2 kyr duration of the minimum dipole moment (∼1 × 1022 A m2), a slow increase started at 39 ka, progressively reaching 5 × 1022 A m2 at 20 ka. The absence of a significant dipole moment drop at 34 ka, the age of the Mono lake excursion, suggests that the duration and amplitude of the dipole weakening cannot be compared with that of the Laschamp. This study provides a reliable basis to model the production of radiocarbon and in situ cosmogenic nuclides and to improve the calibration of these dating methods.
Geomagnetic dipole moment variations associated with polarity reversals and excursions are expressed by large changes of the cosmogenic nuclide beryllium‐10 (10Be) production rates. Authigenic 10Be/9Be ratios (proxy of atmospheric 10Be production) from oceanic cores therefore complete the classical information derived from relative paleointensity (RPI) records. This study presents new authigenic 10Be/9Be ratio results obtained from cores MD05‐2920 and MD05‐2930 collected in the west equatorial Pacific Ocean. Be ratios from cores MD05‐2920, MD05‐2930 and MD90‐0961 have been stacked and averaged. Variations of the authigenic 10Be/9Be ratio are analyzed and compared with the geomagnetic dipole low series reported from global RPI stacks. The largest 10Be overproduction episodes are related to dipole field collapses (below a threshold of 2 × 1022 Am2) associated with the Brunhes/Matuyama reversal, the Laschamp (41 ka) excursion, and the Iceland Basin event (190 ka). Other significant 10Be production peaks are correlated to geomagnetic excursions reported in literature. The record was then calibrated by using absolute dipole moment values drawn from the Geomagia and Pint paleointensity value databases. The 10Be‐derived geomagnetic dipole moment record, independent from sedimentary paleomagnetic data, covers the Brunhes‐Matuyama transition and the whole Brunhes Chron. It provides new and complementary data on the amplitude and timing of millennial‐scale geomagnetic dipole moment variations and particularly on dipole moment collapses triggering polarity instabilities.
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