10Be measurements at MALT using reduced-size samples of bulk sediments

In order to establish 10Be measurements on reduced-size (1-10 mg) samples of bulk sediments, we investigated four different pretreatment designs using lacustrine and marginal-sea sediments and the AMS system of the Micro Analysis Laboratory, Tandem accelerator (MALT) at The University of Tokyo. The 10Be concentrations obtained from the samples of 1-10 mg agreed within a precision of 3-5% with the values previously determined using corresponding ordinary-size (∼200 mg) samples and the same AMS system. This fact demonstrates reliable determinations of 10Be with milligram levels of recent bulk sediments at MALT. On the other hand, a clear decline of the BeO− beam with tens of micrograms of 9Be carrier suggests that the combination of ten milligrams of sediments and a few hundred micrograms of the 9Be carrier is more convenient at this stage.