LAUSR

During solar storms, the Sun expels large amounts of energetic particles (SEP) that can react with the Earth’s atmospheric constituents and produce cosmogenic radionuclides such as 14 C, 10 Be and 36 Cl. Here we present 10 Be and 36 Cl data measured in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The data consistently show one of the largest 10 Be and 36 Cl production peaks detected so far, most likely produced by an extreme SEP event that hit Earth 9125 years BP (before present, i.e., before 1950 CE), i.e., 7176 BCE. Using the 36 Cl/ 10 Be ratio, we demonstrate that this event was characterized by a very hard energy spectrum and was possibly up to two orders of magnitude larger than any SEP event during the instrumental period. Furthermore, we provide 10 Be-based evidence that, contrary to expectations, the SEP event occurred near a solar minimum. Cosmogenic radionuclides from ice cores and tree rings indicate that an extreme solar proton event has hit Earth about 9200 years ago. Contrary to expectations, the event occurred during a quiet phase of the Sun within the 11 year solar cycle.