Discovery of Subatomic Particles Could Answer Deep Questions in Geology

The importance of geoneutrinos was pointed out by scientists in the 1960s, and a seminal study by Lawrence Krauss, Sheldon Glashow and David Schramm in 1994 laid the foundation for the field. In 2005, a Japan-U.S. collaboration called KamLAND operating an experiment at a mine in Japan reported an excess of low-energy "antineutrinos."

Scientists can envision a day when a series of geoneutrino-detecting facilities, located at strategic spots around the globe, can sense particles to get a detailed understanding of the Earth's interior and the source of its internal heat. This data could provide enough information to predict the occurrence of events such as volcano eruptions and earthquakes.

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