Search

A large and sudden increase in radiocarbon (14C) around AD 773 are documented in coral skeletons from the South China Sea. The 14C increased by ~ 15‰ during winter and remain elevated for more than 4 months, then increased and dropped down within two months, forming a spike of 45‰ high in late spring, followed by two smaller spikes. The 14C anomalies coincide with an historic comet collision with the Earth's atmosphere on 17 January AD 773. Comas are known to have percent-levels of nitrogen by weight and are exposed to cosmic radiation in space. Hence they may be expected to contain highly elevated 14C/12C ratios, as compared to the Earth's atmosphere. The significant input of 14C by comets may have contributed to the fluctuation of 14C in the atmosphere throughout the Earth's history, which should be considered carefully to better constrain the cosmic ray fluctuation.

Methane emissions from rice fields in China are found to be 4-10 times higher than emission rates from rice fields in the United States and Europe. Average emission rates during the growing season were {approximately}60 mg m{sup {minus}2} h{sup {minus}1} from rice fields at TuZu in the Sczhuan Province of China. These results show that rice fields are a major source of methane to the atmosphere.