Beryllium-10 from the Sun

doi:10.1126/science.1062545

Account Information

Guest Alerts | Access Rights | My Account | Sign In

Site Navigation

Article Views

Article Tools

My Science

More Information

Related Jobs from ScienceCareers

Astronomy

Science 12 October 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5541, pp. 352 - 354
DOI: 10.1126/science.1062545

Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Beryllium-10 from the Sun

K. Nishiizumi,¹^* M. W. Caffee²

Beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) in excess of that expected from in situ cosmic ray spallation reactions is present in lunar surface soil78481; its presence was revealed with a sequential leaching technique.This excess ¹⁰Be, representing only 0.7 to 1.1% of the total ¹⁰Be inventory, is associated with surface layers (<1 micrometer)of the mineral grains composing 78481. This excess ¹⁰Be and its association with surficial layers corresponds to (1.9± 0.8) × 10⁸ atoms per square centimeter, requiring a ¹⁰Be implantation rate of (2.9 ± 1.2) × 10⁶ atoms per square centimeter per second on the surface of theMoon. The most likely site for the production of this excess ¹⁰Be is the Sun's atmosphere. The ¹⁰Be is entrained into the solar wind and transported to the lunarsurface.

¹ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450, USA.
² Geosciences and Environmental Technology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kuni{at}ssl.berkeley.edu

Present address: Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1396, USA.