Testing Geological Models with Terrestrial Antineutrino Flux Measurements

TL;DR

This paper evaluates how current and proposed geo-neutrino detectors can test geological models by measuring antineutrino fluxes from uranium and thorium decay, despite background uncertainties.

Contribution

It analyzes the potential of different detectors to distinguish between geological models based on antineutrino flux measurements.

Findings

Reactor antineutrino background limits measurement precision.

Certain detector configurations can effectively differentiate geological models.

Systematic uncertainties are a major challenge in terrestrial antineutrino detection.

Abstract

Uranium and thorium are the main heat producing elements in the earth. Their quantities and distributions, which specify the flux of detectable antineutrinos generated by the beta decay of their daughter isotopes, remain unmeasured. Geological models of the continental crust and the mantle predict different quantities and distributions of uranium and thorium. Many of these differences are resolvable with precision measurements of the terrestrial antineutrino flux. This precision depends on both statistical and systematic uncertainties. An unavoidable background of antineutrinos from nuclear reactors typically dominates the systematic uncertainty. This report explores in detail the capability of various operating and proposed geo-neutrino detectors for testing geological models.