A 10Be production-rate calibration for the Arctic

We present a Baffin Bay Be-10 production-rate calibration derived from glacial deposits in western Greenland and Baffin Island, and test our results against published Be-10 calibration datasets to develop an Arctic Be-10 production rate. Our calibration comprises: (i) Be-10 measurements from moraine boulders linked to a C-14-dated moraine at Jakobshavn Isfjord in western Greenland, (ii) an independent and previously published Be-10 production rate at Jakobshavn Isfjord and (iii) re-measured Be-10 concentrations from a Baffin Island calibration site that is included in the north-eastern North America dataset. Combined, we calculate a sea-level/high-latitude Be-10 production rate for the Baffin Bay region of 3.96 +/- 0.07 atoms g(-1) a(-1) (Lal/Stone scaling model). After testing the Baffin Bay rate against calibration sites in Norway and north-eastern North America, we calculate a more conservative Arctic production rate of 3.96 +/- 0.15 atoms g(-1) a(-1). The Baffin Bay and Arctic Be-10 production rates are indistinguishable from the north-eastern North America Be-10 production rate (3.91 +/- 0.19 atoms g(-1) a(-1)) and yield overall uncertainties of <2-3.7% (1 sigma). These production rates reduce systematic uncertainties in Be-10-based chronologies of ice-margin change and allow Be-10-based chronologies to be more confidently compared with high-resolution climate records, such as those from Greenland ice cores. Copyright (C) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.