Light elements and cosmic rays in the early galaxy

Observations of Be and B in low-metallicity halo stars formed during the first 10(9) yr of Galactic evolution show that cosmic-ray acceleration must have taken place in the early Galaxy. The observed abundances of these elements relative to Fe, which, in the early Galaxy, is almost exclusively produced in Type II supernovae, strongly suggest that the cosmic-ray acceleration is also related to such supernovae with the particles being accelerated out of freshly nucleosynthesized matter before it mixes into the ambient, essentially nonmetallic interstellar medium. The observed abundances require that about 3 x 10(49) to 2 x 10(50) ergs per Type II supernova be imparted to these metallic cosmic rays, depending on whether or not H and He are accelerated along with the metals. The current data, however, are not sufficient to decide whether these cosmic rays are predominantly low energy or high energy. But, in any case, arguments of energetics imply a hard-energy spectrum extending up in energy to at least 50 MeV nucleon(-1). This rules out Be and B production by supernova ejecta without further acceleration. In addition to production by cosmic rays, there must also be significant B-11 production by neutrinos. This argument is driven by the observed B-11/B-10 ratio in meteorites that is very difficult to reproduce by cosmic-ray interactions. Observations of Li-6 and Li in the early Galaxy provide information on the acceleration of nonmetallic cosmic rays out of the interstellar medium.