The acceleration of cosmic rays in supernova remnants. III. Long term variations of the terrestrial and near-Earth cosmic-ray intensity

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Abstract
For pt.II see ibid., vol.12, p.1087, 1986. A prerequisite of any model of cosmic-ray acceleration is that it should predict time variations in the terrestrial and near-Earth cosmic-ray intensity which are not inconsistent with observations. The supernova remnant (SNR) acceleration model has been used here to predict such variations for a variety of parameters. It is shown that the results are rather similar to those inferred from studies of the 10Be/9Be abundance ratio in marine sediment cores as well as from measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in extraterrestrial samples. The implication is that the SNR model is allowable. Turning the argument round, if the SNR model is accepted by virtue of other arguments, then the more sensitive sediment core results, which are presently becoming available, may well be close to giving useful evidence for cosmic-ray intensity variations associated with the time of crossing of SNR shocks by the Earth.