Are Scaling Models for Production of Cosmogenic Nuclides Isotope Specific? - Implications from Secondary Cosmic Ray Neutron Spectra Measurements

Abstract:

A necessary requirement in studies using in-situ cosmogenic isotopes is to convert the measured isotope concentrations to exposure ages or geomorphic process rates. This involves using an accepted reference production rate, derived experimentally at a calibration site that has independent age control, and applying scaling factors for latitude and altitude in order to calculate a site-specific production rate. Throughout the development of the in-situ cosmogenic dating method, although reference production rates are necessarily nuclide specific, the scaling factors were not.

The first atmospheric scaling model by Lal and Peters [1967] and others that followed, were based on the principle that as the cosmic ray particle flux attenuates with depth, the energy spectrum of nucleons of energy below 400 MeV becomes invariant at atmospheric depths greater than 200 g/cm²(altitude < 12 km). Hence scaling factors would thus be isotope independent resulting in production rate ratios of different isotopes to be invariant as a function of altitude. However, recent models by Argento et al. [2012, 2015] and Lifton et al. [2014] suggest that the energy spectrum is not invariant and scaling factors should in fact be isotope specific.

The essential feature of the new models is that the focus is on generating the energy spectrum of cosmic-ray nucleons that is then converted into scaling factors with known cross sections. To benchmark the new scaling models I have collated secondary cosmic-ray neutron spectra measurements from the last 20 years and utilised these to calculate site-specific production rates. When using both ground-based and airborne neutron spectra measurements, the result follows the general trend predicted by the new models requiring isotope specific scaling. In contrast, using only the ground-based measurements, which range from sea-level to ~4000 m in altitude, no evidence for isotope specific scaling is apparent.