GEOMORPHOLOGY AND IN-SITU COSMOGENIC ISOTOPES

In-situ cosmogenic isotopes can be used to study the exposure history of the Earth's surface. The production rate of an individual isotope is determined by the rock composition and the integrated cosmic-ray flux at its locality. At high latitudes the variation with time is small and is expected to be much higher at low latitudes; the signal is attenuated with time. The production rate of all isotopes increases significantly with elevation. For many studies, a thousand years of exposure history produces enough in-situ cosmogenic isotopes to be measured. In-situ cosmogenic isotopes have great potential to establish rates and dates of geomorphic processes and events. -from Authors