10Be as paleoclimatic tracer: initial results from south western Indian Ocean sediments

The variations in the concentration of 10Be in the core (SK 200/23) from south western Indian Ocean apparently illuminate past levels of 10Be. The level in the core where lower concentration of 10Be (1.01 × 109 atoms/g) is encountered during the Late Holocene is not at tandem with the Late Holocene southern hemisphere temperature variation. The results further suggest that during last glacial maxima (LGM) the 10Be concentration is higher (2.67 × 109 atoms/g) than the Late Holocene values. The present results, though preliminary, show that local bottom topography seems to have influenced the 10Be concentration at core site. Many studies from different geographic regions need to be undertaken before we finally consider 10Be as yet another strong proxy for palaeoclimatic reconstructions.