The suppression of flux at high energies is generally assumed to be due to the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuz'min (GZK) effect in the case of protons, or due to photodisintegration by the CMB (the Gerasimova-Rozental or GR effect) in the case of heavy nuclei. However it could also be because of the nature of the sources, that is because of the maximum energy to which sources can accelerate cosmic rays.