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Global cooling initiated stony deserts in central Australia 2–4 Ma, dated by cosmogenic ²¹Ne-¹⁰Be

Toshiyuki Fujioka^*,1, John Chappell¹, Masahiko Honda¹, Igor Yatsevich¹, Keith Fifield² and Derek Fabel^,3

¹ Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
² Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
³ Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

Stony deserts are durable indicators of aridity but until now have not been directly dated. Using ²¹Ne and ¹⁰Be produced in surface rocks by cosmic rays, we show that Australian stony deserts formed 2–4 Ma, at the time when global cooling initiated the Quaternary ice ages and intensified aridity-induced major landscape changes in central Australia. This is the first direct determination of stony desert ages, using a new method for determining cosmogenic ²¹Ne in the presence of various neon components from other sources.

Key Words: late Cenozoic • stony deserts • silcrete • exposure age • cosmogenic Ne/Be

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