Solar Neutrino Production of Technetium-97 and Technetium-98

It may be possible to determine the boron-8 solar neutrino flux, averaged over the past several million years, from the concentration of technetium-98 in molybdenite. The mass spectrometry of this system is greatly simplified by the absence of stable technetium isotopes, and the presence of the fission product technetium-99 provides a monitor of uranium-induced backgrounds. This geochemical experiment could provide the first test of nonstandard solar models that suggest a relation between the chlorine-37 solar neutrino puzzle and the recent ice age.