Located in a region isolated by mountains along the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, Lake Tanganyika stretches over 600 kilometers and is the deepest lake on the continent. Containing approximately 16% of the world’s available freshwater, this ecosystem has witnessed extraordinary biological events. According to a recent study from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), a supernova explosion that occurred between two and three million years ago may have played a key role in the diversification of viruses that infect fish in this vast body of water.
The research, led by former undergraduate student Caitlyn Nojiri, in collaboration with astronomy and astrophysics professor Enrico Ramírez-Ruiz and postdoctoral researcher Noémie Globus, examined iron isotopes to identify the footprint of a supernova that occurred 2.5 million years ago. The scientists suggest that the radiation emitted by this stellar catastrophe was intense enough to induce mutations in terrestrial organisms, including the viruses of Lake Tanganyika. The study was published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Nojiri highlighted the significance of this finding, noting that it is fascinating to discover how distant astronomical events may have influenced life on Earth and the planet’s habitability.
The study began in oceanic sediments, where researchers detected the presence of iron-60, a radioactive isotope generated by stellar explosions. By analyzing the decay of this element, they determined that there were two sets of isotopes of different ages: one approximately 6.5 million years old and another 2.5 million years old.
To trace the origin of this material, scientists reconstructed the movement of celestial bodies in the Milky Way region. They discovered that our solar system, currently located in a low-density interstellar region called the Local Bubble, had passed through a dust-rich zone about 6.5 million years ago, explaining the presence of the older iron. Subsequently, a nearby supernova is believed to have exploded between two and three million years ago, scattering the second batch of radioactive isotopes on Earth.
Nojiri explained that iron-60 allows us to track past supernova activity. We are convinced that one of them occurred during that period.
By simulating the effects of this supernova, the team discovered that Earth would have been bombarded by cosmic rays for 100,000 years after the explosion. This radiation coincides with a previously recorded increase in terrestrial radiation from that era, which had puzzled astronomers for years.
Beyond solving an astronomical mystery, this study raised an intriguing question: Could supernova radiation have altered the DNA of organisms on Earth? We know from previous research that radiation can damage DNA, and this could have accelerated evolutionary changes or mutations in cells, Nojiri explained.
The research team found a temporal correlation between the supernova and a significant increase in virus diversity in the fish of Lake Tanganyika. Although they cannot state with certainty that both events are related, they consider the correlation striking and worthy of further investigation.
SOURCES
University of California Santa Cruz
Caitlyn Nojiri, Noémie Globus, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Life in the Bubble: How a Nearby Supernova Left Ephemeral Footprints on the Cosmic-Ray Spectrum and Indelible Imprints on Life. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 979 L18. DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/ada27a
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