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There is growing interest in geochronological applications of terrestrial in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides, with the most commonly measured being 10 Be and 26 Al in quartz. To extract and then separate these radionuclides from quartz and prepare them in the oxide form suitable for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) requires extensive and careful laboratory processing. Here we discuss the suitability of a crushed, sieved and etched, sub-aerially exposed vein quartz specimen (CoQtz-N) to act as a reference material for chemical laboratory preparation and AMS measurements. Splits of CoQtz-N were distributed to eleven target preparation laboratories. The CoQtz-N 10 Be targets were then measured at seven different AMS facilities and five of the preparation laboratories had their 26 Al targets measured at four different AMS facilities. We show that CoQtz-N splits are sufficiently homogeneous with regard to nuclide concentrations, that it has been cleaned of any atmospheric derived (i.e. meteoric) 10 Be and that it has low concentrations of the major elements that can interfere with Be and Al extraction chemistry and AMS measurements. We derive preliminary concentrations for 10 Be and 26 Al in CoQtz-N as 2.53 ±

We present noble gas data for 16 shergottites, 2 nakhlites (NWA 5790, NWA 10153), and 1 angrite (NWA 7812). Noble gas exposure ages of the shergottites fall in the 1–6 Ma range found in previous studies. Three depleted olivine‐phyric shergottites (Tissint, NWA 6162, NWA 7635) have exposure ages of ~1 Ma, in agreement with published data for similar specimens. The exposure age of NWA 10153 (~12.2 Ma) falls in the range of 9–13 Ma reported for other nakhlites. Our preferred age of ~7.3 Ma for NWA 5790 is lower than this range, and it is possible that NWA 5790 represents a distinct ejection event. A Tissint glass sample contains Xe from the Martian atmosphere. Several samples show a remarkably low (21Ne/22Ne)cos ratio < 0.80, as previously observed in a many shergottites and in various other rare achondrites. This was explained by solar cosmic ray‐produced Ne (SCR Ne) in addition to the commonly found galactic cosmic ray‐produced Ne, implying very low preatmospheric shielding and ablation loss. We revisit this by comparing measured (21Ne/22Ne)cos ratios with predictions by cosmogenic nuclide production models. Indeed, several shergottites, acalpulcoites/lodranites, angrites (including NWA 7812), and the Brachina‐like meteorite LEW 88763 likely contain SCR Ne, as previously postulated for many of them. The SCR contribution may influence the calculation of exposure ages. One likely reason that SCR nuclides are predominantly detected in meteorites from rare classes is because they usually are analyzed for cosmogenic nuclides even if they had a very small (preatmospheric) mass and hence low ablation loss.

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The silicon isotope composition of silicic acid, δ30Si(OH)4, in the deep Arctic Ocean is anomalously heavy compared to all other deep ocean basins. To further evaluate the mechanisms leading to this condition, δ30Si(OH)4 was examined on US GEOTRACES section GN01 from the Bering Strait to the North Pole. Isotope values in the polar mixed layer showed a strong influence of the transpolar drift. Drift waters contained relatively high [Si(OH)4] with heavy δ30Si(OH)4 consistent with the high silicate of riverine source waters and strong biological Si(OH)4 consumption on the Eurasian shelves. The maximum in silicic acid concentration, [Si(OH)4], within the double halocline of the Canada Basin formed a local minimum in δ30Si(OH)4 that extended across the Canada Basin, reflecting the high-[Si(OH)4] Pacific source waters and benthic inputs of Si(OH)4 in the Chukchi Sea. δ30Si(OH)4 became lighter with the increase in [Si(OH)4] in intermediate and deep waters; however, both Canada Basin deep water and Eurasian Basin deep water were heavier than deep waters from other ocean basins. A preliminary isotope budget incorporating all available Arctic δ30Si(OH)4 data confirms the importance of isotopically heavy inflows in creating the anomalous deep Arctic Si isotope signature, but also reveals a surprising similarity in the isotopic composition of the major inflows compared to outflows across the main gateways connecting the Arctic with the Pacific and the Atlantic. This similarity implies a major role of biological productivity and opal burial in removing light isotopes entering the Arctic Ocean from rivers.