Considerations For a Dedicated Geoneutrino Detector For Geosciences

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential design and scientific benefits of a dedicated geoneutrino detector to study Earth's interior and radiogenic heat, leveraging neutrino properties for deep Earth exploration.

Contribution

It proposes specific considerations for developing a dedicated geoneutrino detector to enhance understanding of Earth's interior and heat sources.

Findings

Neutrino detection can probe Earth's deep interior.

A dedicated detector could improve measurements of radiogenic heat.

Neutrino properties enable non-invasive deep Earth investigation.

Abstract

A combination of several sources including: radiogenic heating, processes of mantle and core formation and differentiation, delayed radiogenic heating, earthquakes, and tidal friction account for the surface heat flux in the Earth. Radiogenic heating is of much interest in various fields of geosciences. Inferences from recent experiments with reactor antineutrinos and solar neutrinos showed that the age of geoneutrinos is at hand for constraining radiogenic heat. Because of the deep penetrating properties of the neutrinos this type of radiation in the decay of the heat producing elements (HPE) is ideally suited for the investigation of the deep interiors of the Earth compared to conventional radiometric methods for HPE employing alpha-, beta- and gamma rays. This presentation will address the considerations for a dedicated geoneutrino detector to be set up for investigating the interior regions all the way to the center of the Earth.