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Short-term effects of solar storms in phytoplankton photosynthesis

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Abstract

The potential short-term influence of a solar radiation storm on microalgal photosynthesis is investigated. We focus on muons from the secondary cosmic rays at sea level, given their high penetrating power. According to NOAA’s classification of solar radiation storms, two kinds of solar storms are considered: moderate/strong and extreme. An exponential decay of muon fluxes down the water column and a direct proportionality between their penetrating power and energy are assumed. This allows obtaining a function of ionizing radiation to be embedded in a physical-mathematical model for photosynthesis previously modified by some of us to include particulate ionizing radiation. It is shown that moderate/strong solar radiation storms can cause a short-term depletion of photosynthesis of up to 61%, while this figure scales to 75% for extreme storms.

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Funding

No special funding received, just the salaries earned in their respective institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Science Laboratory, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba

    Madeleine López-Águila, Rolando Cardenas & Javier Borges-Márquez

  2. Facultad de Ingeniería, Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad San Sebastián, Lientur 1457, Concepción, Chile

    Lien Rodríguez-López

  3. Facultad de Ingeniería y Negocios, Universidad de Las Américas, sede Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    Lisdelys González-Rodríguez

Authors
  1. Madeleine López-Águila
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  2. Lien Rodríguez-López
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  3. Lisdelys González-Rodríguez
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  4. Rolando Cardenas
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  5. Javier Borges-Márquez
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Contributions

Rolando Cardenas devised the general conception of the work, participated in the calculations and interpretation of results, and wrote the main manuscript text. Madeleine López-Águila, Lien Rodríguez-López and Lisdelys González-Rodríguez participated in the calculations and interpretation of results, and reviewed the manuscript. Javier Borges-Márquez provided the method to calculate the energies (dosis) deposited by muons in phytoplankton cells.

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Correspondence to Rolando Cardenas.

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López-Águila, M., Rodríguez-López, L., González-Rodríguez, L. et al. Short-term effects of solar storms in phytoplankton photosynthesis. Astrophys Space Sci 368, 9 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-023-04162-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-023-04162-w

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