Because cosmogenic isotopes have very long lives (anywhere from thousands to millions of years), scientists find them useful for dating extremely old geological features and activities.
Refer to the indicated sources for more detailed information.
Sources:
Purdue University Prime Lab, "Cosmogenic nuclides" http://plsv1.physics.purdue.edu/primelab/cosmo.html
"Cosmogenic Exposure Dating and the Age of the Earth" http://www.geocities.com/earthhistory/tcn.htm
Cosmogenic Isotope Laboratory, Quaternary Research Center and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington (note: State of Washington, not DC) http://depts.washington.edu/cosmolab/index.html
Cosmogenic isotopes are a result of cosmic ray activity in the atmosphere.
Cosmogenic isotopes are also produced at the surface of the earth by direct cosmic ray irradiation of atoms in solid geologic materials.
Cosmogenic nuclides, since they are produced in the atmosphere or on the surface of the earth and have relatively short half-lives (10 to 30,000 years), are often used for age dating of waters.
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