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Raimund Muscheler

Raimund Muscheler

Professor

Raimund Muscheler

Multiradionuclide evidence for an extreme solar proton event around 2,610 B.P. (∼660 BC)

Author

  • Paschal O’Hare
  • Florian Mekhaldi
  • Florian Adolphi
  • Grant Raisbeck
  • Ala Aldahan
  • Emma Anderberg
  • Jürg Beer
  • Marcus Christl
  • Simon Fahrni
  • Hans Arno Synal
  • Junghun Park
  • Göran Possnert
  • John Southon
  • Edouard Bard
  • Raimund Muscheler
Show all

Summary, in English


Recently, it has been confirmed that extreme solar proton events can lead to significantly increased atmospheric production rates of cosmogenic radionuclides. Evidence of such events is recorded in annually resolved natural archives, such as tree rings [carbon-14 (
14
C)] and ice cores [beryllium-10 (
10
Be), chlorine-36 (
36
Cl)]. Here, we show evidence for an extreme solar event around 2,610 years B.P. (∼660 BC) based on high-resolution
10
Be data from two Greenland ice cores. Our conclusions are supported by modeled
14
C production rates for the same period. Using existing
36
Cl ice core data in conjunction with
10
Be, we further show that this solar event was characterized by a very hard energy spectrum. These results indicate that the 2,610-years B.P. event was an order of magnitude stronger than any solar event recorded during the instrumental period and comparable with the solar proton event of AD 774/ 775, the largest solar event known to date. The results illustrate the importance of multiple ice core radionuclide measurements for the reliable identification of short-term production rate increases and the assessment of their origins.

Department/s

  • Quaternary Sciences

Publishing year

2019

Language

English

Pages

5961-5966

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

116

Issue

13

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Topic

  • Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Keywords

  • Ice cores
  • Radionuclides
  • Solar proton events
  • Solar storms

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0027-8424