VARIATION OF THE RADIOCARBON CONTENT IN TREE RINGS DURING THE SPOERER MINIMUM

ABSTRACT. This paper presents the variation of radiocarbon content in annual tree rings for the period AD 1413–1553, which includes the Spoerer Minimum period (AD 1415–1534). Since the variation of the production rate of 14C is strongly related to solar activity, the variation of 14C content in annual tree rings gives us information on the characteristics of varia-tion of solar activity. We have studied solar activity during the grand solar minima, focusing especially on the stability of the 11-yr cycle. The minima are determined to have been almost free of sunspots. Our results, however, have revealed quite remarkably the existence of the 11-yr cycle for most of the time during the Spoerer Minimum. The 11-yr variation weakened around AD 1460–1510, suggesting that solar activity might have been strongly suppressed during these 50 yr