Two scientists from ANSTO leave for Antarctica tomorrow in search of bi-products of cosmic rays colliding with Earth.
The scientists are on an environmental mission, working to discover whether a historical relationship exists between solar activity on the sun, and climate variability on Earth.
While solar activity is widely accepted to have only had a minor role in climate variability over the past century, over longer periods it’s possible it had a much more significant role.
We know, for example, during the Maunder Minimum, between 1645AD and 1715AD, few sunspots were observed on the sun. This coincided with ‘The Little Ice Age’ on Earth.
The scientists will search for Beryllium-7 and Beryllium-10, created when cosmic rays lose energy in Earth’s atmosphere. It is thought the rays originate from distant supernovas.
Senior Principal Research Scientist, Dr Andrew Smith, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Ulla Heikkila, depart on Tuesday on a 9-day mission to the summit of Law Dome, Antarctica.
They will bring back samples to ANSTO for analysis at the atomic level – using tools that allow scientists to detect individual Beryllium-7 and Beryllium-10 atoms in the ice.
“The key to predicting future climate is understanding the factors that impacted on past climate variability,” Dr Smith said.
“There is some speculation that over the past thousands of years, solar activity may have had a significant impact on the climate of Earth, and that’s what we are researching.
“Research of isotopes over long timescales can help us understand whether there was a relationship, and whether the variability of the sun has a direct effect on global temperatures.
“Satellites and neutron monitors can provide data on solar activity for the last 50 years or so, and prior to that we have the sunspot record that began after Galileo invented the telescope.
“But it’s through going to Antarctica and bringing back samples of Beryllium that we can get a real indication of how solar activity has affected Earth’s climate over past millennia.”
ANSTO’s nuclear techniques, including Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), enable study of the roles of natural variability and human impacts on water, air and earth systems.
ANSTO’s environmental research specialisation includes in the areas of fine particle pollution, glacial and sedimentary systems, ice sheets and oceans.
This is Andrew Smith’s third trip to Antarctica to research the historical relationship between solar activity and climate variability. The last mission was in 2005.
This latest mission concludes on 15 February, 2012.