From space, through carbon and trees, wood rings can attest to the great cosmic storms that strike Earth once every thousand years.
It seems that infinitely small and infinitely small sometimes go together. In fact, as incredible as it may sound, the rare cosmic storms that occur in the universe outside our Earth Great effect on trees. Therefore, we can read the history and effects of these pounding waves here on Earth. Cosmic radiation is written in the bark…
Trees, carbon and cosmic radiation
But you have to be more specific! In fact, the cosmos and the lemon tree are not directly linked. When Radiation enters the atmosphereThey encounter and modify the nitrogen atoms. This eventually creates a form of carbon that will be absorbed by plants. In any case, this is the logic of the scientists who immersed themselves in this phenomenon.
In fact, by correlating the peaks of the carbon isotope with the tree growth rings (visible when the stem is deployed), we obtain a completely reliable record. Dates of major radiation storms. Even if it dates back several thousand years.
This cosmic radiation phenomenon even has a name: the Miyake event. The problem is that this type of event only happens once every thousand years and… we still don’t know why. We thought about solar flares, and in fact not.
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Space trees witness
“We need to know more because if any of these things happened today, it would destroy technology including satellites, internet cables, power lines and long distance transformers.”explains astrophysicist Benjamin Pope, of the University of Queensland in Australia.
“When Radiation hits the atmospherethey produce radioactive carbon-14, which is filtered by the air, oceans, plants and animals, and produces an annual record of radiation in tree rings.”Chengyan Zhang, a mathematician at the University of Queensland in Australia explains.
Since cosmic rays are constantly colliding with our atmosphere, we have a constant, but very small amount of this very rare carbon, called carbon-14 (or radiocarbon), raining on the surface. Some of these are radioactive carbon compounds It is found in tree rings.
Given that Trees add a new growth ring Each year, radiocarbon deposition can be traced back in time, providing knowledge of radioactivity over tens of thousands of years.
Sources used:
Scientific alert: tree rings date a mysterious cosmic storm that strikes every thousand years
University of Queensland: Tree rings provide insight into devastating radiation storms
