We provide a novel proof of the existence of regulator indecomposables in the cycle group $CH^2(X,1)$, where $X$ is a sufficiently general product of two elliptic curves. In particular, the nature of our proof provides an illustration of Beilinson rigidity.

The Griffiths group $\Gr^r(X)$ of a smooth projective variety $X$ over an algebraically closed field is defined to be the group of homologically trivial algebraic cycles of codimension $r$ on $X$ modulo the subgroup of algebraically trivial algebraic cycles. The main result of this paper is that the Griffiths group $\Gr^2 (A_{\bar{k}})$ of a supersingular abelian variety $A_{\bar{k}}$ over the algebraic closure of a finite field of characteristic $p$ is at most a $p$-primary torsion group. As a corollary the same conclusion holds for supersingular Fermat threefolds. In contrast, using methods of C.~Schoen it is also shown that if the Tate conjecture is valid for all smooth projective surfaces and all finite extensions of the finite ground field $k$ of characteristic $p>2$, then the Griffiths group of any ordinary abelian threefold $A_{\bar{k}}$ over the algebraic closure of $k$ is non-trivial; in fact, for all but a finite number of primes $\ell\ne p$ it is the case that $\Gr^2 (A_{\bar{k}}) \otimes \Z_\ell \neq 0$.