Solar Storms during the Laschamps geomagnetic field excursion

Extreme solar storms, much stronger than anything observed during the instrumental era, can be detected in cosmogenic radionuclide records from natural archives such as ice cores and tree rings.

This research project aims to study past solar storms during a period when the geomagnetic field intensity dropped to almost zero.

About 41000-years ago the geomagnetic field was very low for about 1000-2000-years, which is generally referred to as the Laschamps geomagnetic field excursion.

During this period high-energy particles from the sun could enter the atmosphere without being deflected by the geomagnetic field.

Therefore, the impacts of solar storms on cosmogenic radionuclide production rates have been stronger and possible environmental effects were supposedly more prominent.

We will aim to obtain a complete picture of solar storms during this period and study their possible environmental impacts.

From the results we will not only learn how the sun can change through time but we will also assess possible linkages between solar storm occurrences in relation to the solar 11-yr cycle. The results will help us to improve risk assessments in connection to solar storms.

Thereby, we expect that it could help that our society can better prepare for these possibly devastating events for our modern technological society.