2023-10-09 11:07:28
Artist’s impression depicting the influence of a solar flare on Earth. -NASA
MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The analysis of ancient tree rings found in the French Alps has revealed a radiocarbon peak 14,300 years ago, caused by the largest solar storm ever identified.
A similar event today would be catastrophic for modern technological society: it would potentially wipe out telecommunications and satellite systems, cause massive power grid blackouts, and It would cost billions of euros.
A team of researchers from the Collège de France, Aix-Marseille University and the University of Leeds, among others, measured radiocarbon levels in ancient trees preserved on the eroded banks of the Drouzet River, near Gap in the Southern Alps from France. They publish their findings in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences
Tree trunks, which are subfossils (remains whose fossilization process is not complete), They were cut into small individual rings. Analysis of these individual rings identified an unprecedented increase in radiocarbon levels that occurred precisely 14,300 years ago. By comparing this radiocarbon spike with measurements of beryllium, a chemical element found in Greenland ice cores, the team proposes that the spike was caused by a massive solar storm that would have ejected huge volumes of energetic particles into the atmosphere of Greenland. the earth.
Edouard Bard, professor of Climate and Ocean Evolution at the Collège de France and lead author of the study, said it’s a statement: “Radiocarbon is constantly produced in the upper atmosphere through a chain of reactions initiated by cosmic rays. Recently, scientists discovered that extreme solar events, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections, can also create explosions short-term energetic particles that are conserved like huge spikes in radiocarbon production that occur over the course of a single year.”
Tim Heaton, Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Leeds’ School of Mathematics, said: “Extreme solar storms could have huge impacts on Earth. These super storms could permanently damage transformers in our power grids, which would cause huge and widespread blackouts for months. They could also cause permanent damage to the satellites we all depend on for navigation and telecommunications, rendering them unusable. “They would also create serious radiation risks for astronauts.”
It has been identified that nine of these extreme solar storms, known as Miyake Events, occurred in the last 15,000 years. The most recent confirmed Miyake events occurred in 993 AD and 774 AD. However, this newly identified 14,300-year-old storm is the largest ever found: about double the size of these two.
The exact nature of these Miyake Events remains very poorly known as they have never been directly observed instrumentally. They emphasize that we still have a lot to learn about the behavior of the sun and the dangers it poses to society on Earth. We don’t know what causes such extreme solar storms to occur, how often they can occur, or if we can somehow predict them.
Professor Bard said: “Direct instrumental measurements of solar activity began in the 17th century with sunspot counting. Today, we also obtain detailed records using ground-based observatories, space probes and satellites. However, all of these instruments short term “Records are insufficient for a complete understanding of the Sun. Radiocarbon measured in tree rings, used along with beryllium in polar ice cores, “provides the best way to understand the behavior of the Sun in more ancient times.”
The largest directly observed solar storm occurred in 1859 and is known as the Evento Carrington. It caused a massive disturbance on Earth: it destroyed telegraph machines and created a nighttime aurora so bright that birds began singing, believing that the sun had begun to rise. However, the Miyake Events (including the recently discovered 14,300-year-old storm) they would have been an astonishing order of magnitude larger in size.
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