Simulation of snow shielding corrections for cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure studies

Applications to data from the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland show that the constant-plus-exponential (CPE) production rate-depth profile reduces but does not eliminate snow-shielding effects. Under present-day conditions, snow at 900 m in the Cairngorm Mountains reduces average production rates by 6% using the CPE profile and 9% with the exponential profile (EP). Long-term climate simulations from 15.5 ka through today produce larger snow shielding effects, mainly because they predict an increased proportion of precipitation as snowfall during the Younger Dryas. At 900 m, this long-term simulation reduces average cosmogenic isotope production rates by 12% (CPE) and 14% (EP). These results indicate that snow-shielding corrections based on historic climate records may be a potential source of systematic error in midlatitude mountainous regions.