Evaluation of Radiocarbon 14C Yield Under Conditions of Thunderstorms

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 48; no. 22
• Main Author: Lyashuk, V. I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 28-11-2021
• Subjects: Altitude; Archaeology; Atmosphere; Biology; Carbon 14; Dating; Discharge; Evaluation; Fossil animals; Geology; Glaciology; Irradiation; Isotopes; neutron activation; Neutrons; Palaeontology; Paleontology; Probability theory; radiocarbon 14C; Radiocarbon dating; thunderstorm flash; thunderstorm neutrons; Thunderstorms; transport of particles; Weather
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2021GL095357

The knowledge of radioactive 14C yield under atmospheric thunderstorm flash conditions (the additional channel of 14C production relative to the main cosmogenic one) is important for radiocarbon analysis. A gross model for evaluation of the thunderstorm 14C yield simulated for the altitudes up to 15 km is proposed. It was observed that yield from the thunderstorm mechanisms of 14C creation cannot compete with cosmogenic production which is six orders of value larger. The obtained result allows us to eliminate the problematic issue on thunderstorm radiocarbon generation in the atmosphere as the additional significant source.
Plain Language Summary
The creation of isotopes takes place not only in stellar conditions but also in the Earth's atmosphere under cosmic irradiation. Radioactive carbon 14C produced in the atmosphere is an exclusively important tool for historical dating (in archeology, glaciology, biology, paleontology, geology, Sun activity and climate in the past) for the time scale up to ∼(50–60) thousands of years. But radiocarbon creation is also possible from thunderstorm discharges. In case of significant yield, it will cause the correction of dating results. To solve this problem, the model that takes into account the rate of 14C production depending on the part of energetic electrons in the thunderstorm flash discharges for different altitudes is proposed. The probability of 14C creation depending on the energy of neutrons generated under thunderstorms was calculated. The results revealed that yield of thunderstorm mechanism is very small when compared to the main one originated from the cosmic irradiation. It allows us to eliminate the problematic question on the correction arising from this additional source of 14C isotope. The reliability of the obtained results is confirmed by simulation of the Japan experiment on neutron registration at the strong thunderstorm in January 5 2012.
Key Points
The gross model for evaluation of the radiocarbon 14C creation during thunderstorms
Probability of 14C generation in the atmosphere depending on the neutron energy
Radiocarbon creation under thunderstorms at different altitudes. Comparison with 14C yield from the cosmic irradiation