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Rapid increase in cosmogenic C-14 in AD 775 measured in New Zealand kauri trees indicates short-lived increase in C-14 production spanning both hemispheres

Guettler, D. ; Adolphi, Florian LU ; Beer, J. ; Bleicher, N. ; Boswijk, G. ; Christl, M. ; Hogg, A. ; Palmer, J. ; Vockenhuber, C. and Wacker, L. , et al. (2015) In Earth and Planetary Science Letters 411. p.290-297
Abstract
In 2012, Miyake et al. reported a sudden and strong increase of the atmospheric radiocarbon (C-14) content in Japanese cedar trees of 1.2% between AD 774 and 775. While their findings were quickly confirmed by a German oak chronology for the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the question remained if the effect was seen in both hemispheres. Here we present the first annually resolved Southern Hemisphere (SH) C-14 record spanning the interval AD 760-787, using New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) chronology wood. An almost identical distinct increase compared to Northern Hemisphere data was observed, suggesting a cosmic event with globally uniform impact as a potential cause for the increase. Deploying a carbon cycle box model a worldwide averaged... (More)
In 2012, Miyake et al. reported a sudden and strong increase of the atmospheric radiocarbon (C-14) content in Japanese cedar trees of 1.2% between AD 774 and 775. While their findings were quickly confirmed by a German oak chronology for the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the question remained if the effect was seen in both hemispheres. Here we present the first annually resolved Southern Hemisphere (SH) C-14 record spanning the interval AD 760-787, using New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) chronology wood. An almost identical distinct increase compared to Northern Hemisphere data was observed, suggesting a cosmic event with globally uniform impact as a potential cause for the increase. Deploying a carbon cycle box model a worldwide averaged net C-14 production of 2.2 x 10(8) C-14 atoms cm(-2) was estimated, which is 3.7 times higher than the average annual C-14 production. The immediate appearance of the event in tree rings on both hemispheres suggests a short duration event of significantly less than 1 yr. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
AD 775, modeling, carbon cycle, C-14, AMS
in
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
volume
411
pages
290 - 297
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000349197500028
  • scopus:84920280944
ISSN
1385-013X
DOI
10.1016/j.epsl.2014.11.048
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
94a9da6d-d4d1-41fe-91f5-7c0efcf32578 (old id 5187097)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:49:52
date last changed
2025-10-14 10:40:19
@article{94a9da6d-d4d1-41fe-91f5-7c0efcf32578,
  abstract     = {{In 2012, Miyake et al. reported a sudden and strong increase of the atmospheric radiocarbon (C-14) content in Japanese cedar trees of 1.2% between AD 774 and 775. While their findings were quickly confirmed by a German oak chronology for the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the question remained if the effect was seen in both hemispheres. Here we present the first annually resolved Southern Hemisphere (SH) C-14 record spanning the interval AD 760-787, using New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) chronology wood. An almost identical distinct increase compared to Northern Hemisphere data was observed, suggesting a cosmic event with globally uniform impact as a potential cause for the increase. Deploying a carbon cycle box model a worldwide averaged net C-14 production of 2.2 x 10(8) C-14 atoms cm(-2) was estimated, which is 3.7 times higher than the average annual C-14 production. The immediate appearance of the event in tree rings on both hemispheres suggests a short duration event of significantly less than 1 yr.}},
  author       = {{Guettler, D. and Adolphi, Florian and Beer, J. and Bleicher, N. and Boswijk, G. and Christl, M. and Hogg, A. and Palmer, J. and Vockenhuber, C. and Wacker, L. and Wunder, J.}},
  issn         = {{1385-013X}},
  keywords     = {{AD 775; modeling; carbon cycle; C-14; AMS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{290--297}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Earth and Planetary Science Letters}},
  title        = {{Rapid increase in cosmogenic C-14 in AD 775 measured in New Zealand kauri trees indicates short-lived increase in C-14 production spanning both hemispheres}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.11.048}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.epsl.2014.11.048}},
  volume       = {{411}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}