Beryllium-10 in australasian tektites: evidence for a sedimentary precursor.

Each of seven Australasian tektites contains about 1 x l0(8) atoms of beryllium-10 (half-life, 1.53 x 10(6) years) per gram. Cosmic-ray bombardment of the australites cannot have produced the measured amounts of beryllium-10 either at the earth's surface or in space. The beryllium-10 contents of these australites are consistent with a sedimentary precursor that adsorbed from precipitation beryllium-10 produced in the atmosphere. The sediments must have spent several thousand years at the earth's surface within a few million years of the tektite-producing event.