View source for Physics:Beryllium-10

{{Short description|Isotope of beryllium}}
{{Infobox isotope
|image=
|num_neutrons = 6
|num_protons = 4
|alternate_names = 
|mass_number=10
|abundance = trace
|symbol=Be
|decay_product = '''<sup>10</sup>B''' (bold for stable nuclides)
|halflife= {{val|1.39|e=6|u=years}}
|mass= 
|excess_energy =
|binding_energy = {{val|64,976.3|0.08}}<!-- keV, per WD, ame2016 -->
|spin =0+
|decay_mode1= β<sup>−</sup>
|decay_energy1= 0.5560<ref name=BNL>{{cite web |url=https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2/decaysearchdirect.jsp?nuc=10BE&unc=nds |work=National Nuclear Data Center |publisher=[[Organization:Brookhaven National Laboratory|Brookhaven National Laboratory]] |title=Decay Radiation: <sup>10</sup>Be |accessdate= 2013-10-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2004.09.059 |title=Energy levels of light nuclei |year=2004 |last1=Tilley |first1=D.R. |last2=Kelley |first2=J.H. |last3=Godwin |first3=J.L. |last4=Millener |first4=D.J. |last5=Purcell |first5=J.E. |last6=Sheu |first6=C.G. |last7=Weller |first7=H.R. |journal=Nuclear Physics A |volume=745 |issue=3–4 |pages=155–362 }}</ref>
}}

'''Beryllium-10''' (<sup>10</sup>Be) is a radioactive [[Physics:Isotopes of beryllium|isotope]] of [[Chemistry:Beryllium|beryllium]]. It is formed in the Earth's atmosphere mainly by [[Physics:Cosmic ray spallation|cosmic ray spallation]] of nitrogen and oxygen.<ref name="Kov10">{{cite journal|author1=G.A. Kovaltsov|author2=I.G. Usoskin|journal=Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.| volume=291|issue=1–4| year=2010| pages=182–199|title=A new 3D numerical model of cosmogenic nuclide <sup>10</sup>Be production in the atmosphere|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2010.01.011|bibcode=2010E&PSL.291..182K}}</ref><ref name="Beer12">{{cite book|author1=J. Beer|author2=K. McCracken|author3 = R. von Steiger|year=2012|publisher = Physics of Earth and Space Environments, Springer, Berlin |title=Cosmogenic radionuclides: theory and applications in the terrestrial and space environments| volume= 26| doi=10.1007/978-3-642-14651-0|series=Physics of Earth and Space Environments|isbn=978-3-642-14650-3|s2cid=55739885}}</ref><ref name="Pol16">{{cite journal|author1=S.V. Poluianov|author2=G.A. Kovaltsov|author3=A.L. Mishev|author4=I.G. Usoskin|journal=J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.| volume=121|issue=13| year=2016| pages=8125–8136|title= Production of cosmogenic isotopes <sup>7</sup>Be, <sup>10</sup>Be, <sup>14</sup>C, <sup>22</sup>Na, and <sup>36</sup>Cl in the atmosphere: Altitudinal profiles of yield functions|doi=10.1002/2016JD025034|arxiv=1606.05899|bibcode=2016JGRD..121.8125P|s2cid=119301845}}</ref> Beryllium-10 has a [[Physics:Half-life|half-life]] of 1.39 × 10<sup>6</sup> years,<ref name="Korschinek">{{cite journal|author1=G. Korschinek|author2=A. Bergmaier|author3=T. Faestermann|author4=U. C. Gerstmann|journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms| volume=268|issue=2|  year=2010| pages=187–191|title=A new value for the half-life of <sup>10</sup>Be by Heavy-Ion Elastic Recoil Detection and liquid scintillation counting|doi=10.1016/j.nimb.2009.09.020|bibcode=2010NIMPB.268..187K}}</ref><ref name="Chmeleff">{{cite journal|author1=J. Chmeleff|author2=F. von Blanckenburg|author3=K. Kossert|author4=D. Jakob|journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms| volume=268|issue=2| year=2010| pages=192–199|title=Determination of the <sup>10</sup>Be half-life by multicollector ICP-MS and liquid scintillation counting|  doi=10.1016/j.nimb.2009.09.012|bibcode=2010NIMPB.268..192C|url=http://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:239521}}</ref> and decays by [[Physics:Beta decay|beta decay]] to stable [[Physics:Isotopes of boron|boron-10]] with a maximum energy of 556.2 keV. It decays through the reaction <sup>10</sup>Be→<sup>10</sup>B + e<sup>−</sup>. Light elements in the atmosphere react with high energy galactic cosmic ray particles. The [[Physics:Spallation|spallation]] of the reaction products is the source of <sup>10</sup>Be (t, u particles like n or p):
:<sup>14</sup>N(t,5u)<sup>10</sup>Be; Example: <sup>14</sup>N(n,p α)<sup>10</sup>Be 
:<sup>16</sup>O(t,7u)<sup>10</sup>Be

[[Image:Solar Activity Proxies.png|thumb|left|300px|Plot showing variations in solar activity, including variation in <sup>10</sup>Be concentration which varies inversely with solar activity. (Note that the beryllium scale is inverted, so increases on this scale indicate lower beryllium-10 levels).]]

Because beryllium tends to exist in [[Chemistry:Solution|solution]]s below about [[Chemistry:PH|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 [[Chemistry:Precipitation|precipitation]] quickly becomes more [[Chemistry:Alkaline|alkaline]], beryllium drops out of solution. Cosmogenic <sup>10</sup>Be thereby accumulates at the [[Chemistry:Soil|soil]] surface, where its relatively long [[Physics:Half-life|half-life]] (1.387 million years) permits a long residence time before decaying to <sup>10</sup>[[Chemistry:Boron|B]].

<sup>10</sup>Be and its daughter product have been used to examine soil erosion, [[Earth:Soil formation|soil formation]] from regolith, the development of [[Earth:Laterite|lateritic soils]] and the age of [[Earth:Ice core|ice core]]s.<ref name="BalcoShuster2009">{{cite journal|last1= Balco|first1= Greg|last2= Shuster|first2= David L.|year= 2009|title= <sup>26</sup>Al-<sup>10</sup>Be–<sup>21</sup>Ne burial dating|journal= [[Earth:Earth and Planetary Science Letters|Earth and Planetary Science Letters]]|volume= 286|issue= 3–4|pages= 570–575|doi= 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.025|url= http://www.bgc.org/shuster/BalcoShuster(2009b)_Al_Be_Ne_burial_dating.pdf|bibcode= 2009E&PSL.286..570B|access-date= 2012-12-10|archive-date= 2015-09-23|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150923184215/http://www.bgc.org/shuster/BalcoShuster(2009b)_Al_Be_Ne_burial_dating.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref> It is also formed in nuclear explosions by a reaction of fast neutrons with [[Physics:Carbon-13|<sup>13</sup>C]] in the carbon dioxide in air, and is one of the historical indicators of past activity at nuclear test sites. <sup>10</sup>Be decay is a significant isotope used as a proxy data measure for [[Physics:Cosmogenic nuclide|cosmogenic nuclide]]s to characterize solar and extra-solar attributes of the past from terrestrial samples.<ref name="Paleari">{{cite journal  | last = Paleari  | first = Chiara I.  | author2 = F. Mekhaldi  |author3 = F. Adolphi  |author4 = M. Christl  |author5 = C. Vockenhuber  |author6 = P. Gautschi  |author7 = J. Beer  |author8 = N. Brehm  |author9 = T. Erhardt  |author10 = H.-A. Synal  |author11 = L. Wacker  |author12 = F. Wilhelms  |author13 = R. Muscheler  | title = Cosmogenic radionuclides reveal an extreme solar particle storm near a solar minimum 9125 years BP  | journal = Nat. Commun.  | volume = 13  | issue = 214  | date = 2022  | page = 214 | doi = 10.1038/s41467-021-27891-4 | pmid = 35017519 | pmc = 8752676 | bibcode = 2022NatCo..13..214P |doi-access = free  }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Earth:Surface exposure dating|Surface exposure dating]]

{{Isotope sequence
|element=beryllium
|lighter=[[Physics:Beryllium-9|Beryllium-9]]
|heavier=[[Physics:Beryllium-11|Beryllium-11]]
|before=[[Physics:Lithium-11|lithium-11]] '''([[Physics:Beta decay|β<sup>−</sup>]], [[Physics:Neutron emission|n]])'''
|after=[[Physics:Boron-10|boron-10]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}


[[Category:Isotopes of beryllium]]

{{Sourceattribution|Beryllium-10}}