A lot of helium remains trapped inside the Earth and scientists keep studying that.
There is a surprising new discovery about the Earth’s core. An analysis of 62-million-old Arctic rocks has revealed that there is a slow trickle from the very heart of our plant. The analysis has been carried out by geochemists from the California Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. According to Science Alertthe scientists found record concentrations of a helium isotopes inside the rocks they studied, which convinced them that this is the most compelling evidence of a slow leak in Earth’s core.
A research detailing the discovery was published in Nature.
The scientists combined the results from an earlier analysis of ancient lava flow, which contained unusually high concentration of helium 3 to arrive at the conclusion. They believe there could be reserves of the elusive gas buried some 2,900km underground.
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Helium has always surprised scientists who have yet to establish just how much of it remains trapped inside the Earth.
Most helium found in the universe dates back to the Bing Bang, which occurred 13.8 billion years ago. The Earth swallowed a part of it, but other part was thrown away as the planet was forming.
So far, humans have not been able to dig deeper than 12,265 metres, which doesn’t break through the crust of the layers beneath.
So, if this helium is found leaking, it can give glimpses into the time when the planet was forming. And out scientists will learn about the way planets like the Earth come together from a swirl of dust and primordial gas.
The gas that is detected in the lava spewed out from the volcanoes is from the mantle.
The first time this leak was detected, was several years ago when Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution geochemist Forrest Horton uncovered helium isotope ratios of up to 50 times that of atmospheric levels in samples of olivine collected from Baffin’s lava fields, making them high even for the mantle.
And now this study points towards the rare discovery that is being examined by the researchers further.
