Abstract
A DETAILED knowledge of the history of solar magnetic activity is important in several respects. From satellite data there is increasing evidence that solar magnetic activity and solar irradiance are positively correlated, a conclusion with important implications for climatology1. Because of the complexity of variations in solar activity, a long record is necessary for understanding the mechanisms responsible for heliomagnetic cyclicity2. Here we show that 10Be concentrations in polar ice can be used to study variations in the solar activity—particularly the 11-year cycle—in time periods pre-dating historical records.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Willson, R. C., Hudson, H. S., Frohlich, C. & Brusa, R. W. Science 234, 1114–1117 (1986).
Newkirk, G. J. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B5, 404–410 (1984).
Eddy, J. A. Science 192, 1189–1201 (1976).
Stephenson, F. R. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last 10,000 Years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) 109–129 (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
Wittmann, A. D. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last 10,000 Years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) 131–139 (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
O'Brien, K. J. geophys. Res. 84, 423–431 (1979).
Castagnoli, G. & Lal, D. Radiocarbon 22, 133–158 (1980).
Blinov, A. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last 10,000 Years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) 329–340 (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
Lal, D. Geophys. Res. Lett. 14, 785–788 (1987).
Raisbeck, G. M. & Yiou, F. in Proc. Conf. on Ancient Sun (eds Pepin, R. O., Eddy, J. A. & Merrill, R. B.) 185–190 (Pergamon, New York, 1980).
Beer, J. et al. Radiocarbon 25, 269–279 (1983).
Raisbeck, G. M. et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 8, 1015–1018 (1981).
Siegenthaler, U., Heimann, M. & Oeschger, H. Radiocarbon 22, 177–191 (1980).
Suess, H. E. in Radiocarbon Variations and Alsolute Chronology (ed. Olsson, I. U.) 595–605 (Almquist & Willsell, Stockholm, 1970).
Stuiver, M. & Quay, P. Science 207, 11–19 (1980).
Povinec, P., Burchuladze, A. A. & Pagava, S. V. Radiocarbon 25, 259–266 (1983).
Arnold, J. R. Science 124, 584–585 (1956).
Goel, P. S. et al. Deep Sea Res. 4, 202–210 (1957).
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Fruneau, M. & Loiseaux, J. M. Science 202, 215–217 (1978).
Wölfli, W. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B29, 1–13 (1987).
Raisbeck, G. M. et al. Nature 292, 825–826 (1981).
Beer, J. et al. in Proc. 18th Int Cosmic Ray Conf. (eds Durgaprasad, N., Ramadurai, S., Ramana Murthy, P. V., Rao, M. V. S. & Sivaprasad, K.) 317–320 (Ramana Murthy, Bombay, 1983).
Beer, J., Siegenthaler, U. & Blinov, A. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last 10,000 Years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
Raisbeck, G. M. & Yiou, F. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last 10,000 Years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) 287–296 (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
Cini Castagnoli, G., Bonino, G., Attolini, M. R., Galli, M. & Beer, J. Nuovo Cim. C7, 235–244 (1984).
Beer, J. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B10/11, 415–418 (1985).
Sigg, A. & Neftel, A. Ann. Glaciol. 10, 157–162 (1988).
Suter, M. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B40/41, 734–740 (1989).
Gleissberg, W. J. Br. astr. Ass. 75, 227 (1965).
Mayaud, S. N. Bull. Int. Ass. Geomagn. Aeron. 33, 1–251 (1973).
Legrand, J. P. & Simon, P. A. Ann. Geophys. 7, 565–578 (1989).
Joseph, A. B. et al. in Radioactivity in the Marine Environment (ed. Panel on Radioactivity in the Environment) (Natn. Acad. Sci., Washington, 1971).
Sarmiento, J. L. & Gwinn, E. J. geophys. Res. 91, 7631–7646 (1986).
Lowes, F. J. in Secular Solar and Geomagnetic Variations in the Last lO,OOO years (eds Stephenson, F. R. & Wolfendale, A. W.) 367–379 (Kluwer Academic, Durham, 1988).
Beer, J., Raisbeck, G. & Yiou, F. in Sun in Time (eds Sonnet, C. P.) (University of Arizona Press, Tuscon, in the press).
Dicke, R. H. Nature 276, 676–680 (1978).
Eddy, J. A., Gilliland, R. L. & Hoyt, D. V. Nature 300, 689–693 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beer, J., Blinov, A., Bonani, G. et al. Use of 10Be in polar ice to trace the 11-year cycle of solar activity. Nature 347, 164–166 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/347164a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/347164a0
This article is cited by
-
Development and applications of accelerator mass spectrometry methods for measurement of 14C, 10Be and 26Al in the CENTA laboratory
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry (2024)
-
A history of solar activity over millennia
Living Reviews in Solar Physics (2023)
-
Cosmogenic radionuclides reveal an extreme solar particle storm near a solar minimum 9125 years BP
Nature Communications (2022)
-
The significance of climate variability on early modern European grain prices
Cliometrica (2022)
-
Tree-rings reveal two strong solar proton events in 7176 and 5259 BCE
Nature Communications (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.