Influence of a Galactic Gamma-Ray Burst on Ocean Plankton

TL;DR

This paper investigates how gamma-ray bursts could have caused mass extinctions in ocean plankton by inducing intense UV flashes that damage phytoplankton, potentially impacting Earth's biological evolution.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative analysis of the short-term lethal effects of gamma-ray bursts on ocean phytoplankton through UV retransmission, linking astrophysical events to biological impacts.

Findings

UV flash from GRBs can penetrate tens of meters in ocean water.

Significant reduction in phytoplankton biomass is possible due to UV exposure.

Gamma-ray bursts may have influenced Earth's biological history.

Abstract

The hypothesis that one or more biodiversity drops in the Phanerozoic eon, evident in the geological record, might have been caused by the most powerful kind of stellar explosion so far known Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) has been discussed in several works. These stellar explosions could have left an imprint in the biological evolution on Earth and in other habitable planets. In this work we calculate the short-term lethality that a GRB would produce in the aquatic primary producers on Earth. This effect on life appears because of ultraviolet (UV) retransmission in the atmosphere of a fraction of the gamma energy, resulting in an intense UV flash capable of penetrating tens of meters in the water column in the ocean. We focus on the action of the UV flash on phytoplankton, as they are the main contributors to global aquatic primary productivity. Our results suggest that the UV flash could cause a significant reduction of phytoplankton biomass in the upper mixed layer of the World Ocean.