Modeling the transport and deposition of Be produced by the strongest solar proton event during the holocene

Spiegl, T. C.*; Yoden, Shigeo*; Langematz, U.*; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Chhin, R.*; Noda, Satoshi*; Miyake, Fusa*; Kusano, Kanya*; Schaar, K.*; Kunze, M.*

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 127(13), p.e2021JD035658_1 - e2021JD035658_21, 2022/07

https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035658

The abundance of cosmogenic isotopes in natural archives carries important information about the complex pathways from their source in the upper atmosphere to their deposition via atmospheric transport processes. Here, we use a new modelling framework to (a) estimate the Be production yield for the 774 CE/775 event, (b) evaluate the performance of our model framework by comparing the model results to four ice core records and (c) investigate the atmospheric pathways with a state-of-the-art climate model in detail. The results give new constraints regarding the seasonal timing of the event, underpin the role of the background conditions in the stratosphere, and highlight regional variations in the cosmogenic surface flux.