???? The scars on Earth of the largest solar storm ever identified

2023-10-16 04:00:15

More than 14,000 years ago, Earth received a massive dose of cosmic radiation, tree rings reveal. According to researchers, this overdose came from a solar storm on a scale never seen before.

In a study published October 9, scientists analyzed the growth rings of subfossil trees found in the French Alps. The term “subfossil” is generally used to describe biological remains that are in the process of fossilizing but are not fully fossilized.

These trees have high levels of radiocarbon, dating back approximately 14,300 years. Radiocarbon is produced when cosmic rays strike nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere. ). This radiocarbon peak coincides with data from ice cores taken in Greenland (pronounced /gʁɔɛn.lɑ̃d/ , writes Groënland in…), showing high levels of beryllium (Beryllium is a chemical element with symbol Be and atomic number 4….) for the same period.

Cross section of the rings of one of the subfossil tree trunks. The radiation peak is not visible to the naked eye.
Credit: Cécile Miramont

Researchers believe that this increase in radiation is due to a huge coronal mass ejection (CME) caused by a huge solar flare. . If this is true, this storm would be “the largest ever identified” emanating from the Sun (The Sun (Sol in Latin, Helios or Ήλιος in Greek) is the star …). Such a storm today would be catastrophic for our modern technological society, scientists warn.

Researchers call this ancient phenomenon a “Miyake event”, a gigantic solar storm never directly observed but traces of which can be found in the fossil record. There is evidence of six to eight other Miyake events, the most recent dating back approximately 1,030 years.

Two subfossil tree trunks in a shallow river in the French Alps.
Credit: Cécile Miramont

Tim Heaton, a radiocarbon expert at the University of Leeds, highlights the dangers of a similar event today. Storms of this magnitude might damage the transformers of our electrical networks and render our satellites unusable. These events might also have played a role in our evolution. Researchers believe we might see a new Miyake event in the not-so-distant future.
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