Recurrent large-scale solar proton events before the onset of the Wolf
grand solar minimum
Abstract
Carbon-14 in tree rings have suggested that there had been multiple
extreme solar proton events (SPEs) in the past. While the largest events
such as in 774–775 CE can be significantly detected by the typical
precision of accelerator mass spectrometry, smaller but possibly more
frequent events have been difficult to be detected. Thus, the frequency
or any characteristics of such relatively smaller events are still
largely unknown. In this paper, we report that multiple large SPEs had
occurred before the onset of the Wolf grand solar minimum based on
high-precision carbon-14 analyses. It is suggested that they had
occurred at the maximum and the declining phase of solar cycles, and
that they had occurred during the transition time of solar activity into
a deep minimum. We propose that this episode may provide a unique
opportunity to elucidate a potential interaction between the solar
dynamo and extreme solar flares.