Samples of two deep-sea sediment cores from the Indian Ocean are analyzed with accelerator mass spectrometry ( AMS ) to search for traces of recent supernova activity \sim 2 Myr ago .
Here , long-lived radionuclides , which are synthesized in massive stars and ejected in supernova explosions , namely ^ { 26 } Al , ^ { 53 } Mn and ^ { 60 } Fe , are extracted from the sediment samples .
The cosmogenic isotope ^ { 10 } Be , which is mainly produced in the Earth’s atmosphere , is analyzed for dating purposes of the marine sediment cores .
The first AMS measurement results for ^ { 10 } Be and ^ { 26 } Al are presented , which represent for the first time a detailed study in the time period of 1.7-3.1 Myr with high time resolution .
Our first results do not support a significant extraterrestrial signal of ^ { 26 } Al above terrestrial background .
However , there is evidence that , like ^ { 10 } Be , ^ { 26 } Al might be a valuable isotope for dating of deep-sea sediment cores for the past few million years .