Mammoth Extinction and Radiation Dose: A Comment

Abstract

Recently, an article was published in this journal, discussing evidence for a solar flare cause of faunal extinction during the Late Pleistocene (LaViolette 2011). The article is based on the hypothesis that an increase in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration might have been produced by a giant solar proton event (SPE). This proposed SPE would deliver a lethal radiation dose of at least 36 Sv to the surface of the Earth, causing termination of the Pleistocene megafauna.