The study, led by Postdoctoral Researcher Kseniia Golubenko and Professor Ilya Usoskin, identified an 18% stronger spike in radiocarbon than the previously strongest known event from AD 775. This marks the most intense solar storm detected in tree-ring archives, far surpassing modern records.
"Compared to the largest event of the modern satellite era - the 2005 particle storm - the ancient 12,350 BC event was over 500 times more intense, according to our estimates," explained Dr. Golubenko.
The new model was validated using ancient wood samples from the French Alps, dating back some 14,300 years, confirming its accuracy for extreme particle storms even outside the stable Holocene climate epoch, which spans the past 12,000 years.
Solar particle storms, unlike geomagnetic storms like the 1859 Carrington Event, can dramatically increase atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) levels, creating precise cosmic timestamps in tree rings. Such events, known as Miyake events, have been critical for dating ancient human settlements and understanding past solar behavior.
"Miyake events allow us to pin down exact calendar years in floating archaeological chronologies," Usoskin noted. These signals have enabled precise dating of Viking settlements in Newfoundland and Neolithic sites in Greece.
This latest finding provides a new worst-case scenario for solar storms, highlighting the potential impacts on modern infrastructure, including satellites, power grids, and communications systems.
Research Report:New SOCOL:14C-Ex model reveals that the Late-Glacial radiocarbon spike in 12350 BC was caused by the record-strong extreme solar storm
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