›› 2013, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (3): 534-540.

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Tracing Paleoenvironment Changes with Cosmogenic Nuclides 10Be and 26Al

 ZHAO  Guo-Qing1,2, ZHANG  Li1,2,3, WU  Zhen-Kun1,2, XIAN  Feng1,2, KONG  Xiang-Hui1,2   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 
    Xi’an 710075, China; 2. Xi’an Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Center, X[JP8]i’[JP]an 710061, China;
    3. Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2012-05-02 Revised:2012-06-15 Online:2013-05-15 Published:2013-05-16

Abstract: Cosmogenic nuclides 10 Be and 26Al have been widely applied to trace the paleoenvironment changes and the evolution of landforms during the Quaternary Period because of their unique formation mechanism, stable geochemical properties and long radioactive half-life. In this paper, the formation mechanism of 10Be and 26Al, application of atmospheric cosmogenic 10Be, basic principles of 10Be and 26Al dating, affecting factors and considerations in field sampling and laboratory test of 10Be and 26Al were discussed. The application of 10Be and 26Al in tracing the paleoenvironment changes was introduced so as to provide a useful reference for researching cosmogenic nuclides of 10Be and 26Al in geoscience and Quaternary geology in the future.

Key words: cosmogenic nuclide, 10Be, 26Al, quaternary paleoenvironment, landform evolution