A possible in situ 3H and 3He source in Earth's interior: an alternative explanation of origin of 3He in deep Earth.
Origin of (3)He in the Earth is a mystery. Lacking a production mechanism, scientists assume (3)He was trapped in the Earth, when the Earth was formed. In contrast to this assumption, we have found (3)He and (3)H concentrations in excess of the atmospheric values in the deep waters of the volcanic Lakes Pavin (France), Laacher (Germany) and Nemrut (Turkey). This paper reports the result of finding (3)H in these three volcanic lakes that appear to originate from the mantle. Because (3)H has a half-life of 12.3 years, this (3)H and the resulting (3)He must have formed recently in the mantle and not be part of a primordial reservoir. The nuclear reactions that generate tritium might be a source of "missing" energy in the interior of the Earth.
Jiang
Songsheng
S
China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing, China. ssjiang@ciae.ac.cn
Liu
Jing
J
He
Ming
M
D018534:Earth, Planet; D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D005602:France; D005844:Geology / Q000379:methods*; D005858:Germany; D006371:Helium; D006859:Hydrogen; D014421:Turkey; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions
D006371:Helium; D006859:Hydrogen