Scientists Discover Unprecedented Radioactive Anomaly Beneath Pacific Ocean

An international research team has uncovered a significant accumulation of the radioactive isotope beryllium-10, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean's surface, according to a study published in Nature Communications. The researchers suggest that this unexpected anomaly, dating back approximately ten million years, may be linked to major shifts in ocean currents or cosmic ray interactions with the Earth's atmosphere during that era.

Beryllium-10, which has a half-life of 1.4 million years, is continually produced when oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere collide with high-energy protons. Co-author Dominik Koll from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf noted that their findings indicate nearly double the expected levels of the isotope at the time of the genetic divergence of gibbons and orangutans, positing a possible "grand reorganization" of ocean currents or celestial events as contributing factors.

The team hopes this discovery could improve understanding of geological timelines and the evolution of Earth's crust, proposing further analysis of samples from other oceans to determine if the anomaly is a global phenomenon.