Originally published August 6 2005
Scientists take a peek deep into the earth
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Using a telescope, scientists have measured the total radioactivity of the earth for the first time.
Physicists at an underground observatory in Japan have for the first time detected and analyzed antineutrinos --- elusive particles 500,000 times smaller than an electron --- created by radioactive fires deep within the Earth.
The observation sheds new light on the complicated processes that generate heat below the Earth's crust and generate the movement of tectonic plates.
Advertisement An 85-member team led by physicists Giorgio Gratta at Stanford and Atsuto Suzuki at Japan's Tohoku University snared the tiny subatomic particles with the help of the Kamland observatory, which is essentially a giant vat of baby oil, benzene and fluorescent material that flashes when an antineutrino pass through it.
The detector is buried in a cavern underneath a mountain in Kamioka, Japan, to reduce "pollution" from nuclear reactors, which also can generate antineutrinos.
"What may be most revolutionary is the alternative it provides to traditional probing methods, which simply bore down from the surface --- a very costly technique that can trigger earthquakes," said Stanford geophysicist professor Norman Sleep.
The new technique "promises to give geologists and seismologists better data to predict volcanoes, earthquakes and other volatile Earth dynamics," Sleep said.
Gratta said the Kamland results, particularly the ratios of thorium to uranium it discovered, "support earlier theories about the nature of matter in the Earth's crust, core and lower mantle."
They calculated that radioactive decay producing that level of radiation is likely generating about 24 terawatts of heat continuously.
That is about the same amount of heat as is generated by chemical reactions and phase changes, such as crystallization of liquids, and heat left over from the Earth's formation.
"Antineutrinos reveal just some basic chemistry about the inner Earth.
But when you know nothing, knowing a little can make a big difference," Gratta said.
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