Scientists have discovered a high concentration of helium-3 in Arctic rocks that has not been seen anywhere else. Helium 3, or 3, is one of the very rare isotopes of the noble gas used in balloon flight, and it is very important in two ways. One is understanding the history and workings of our planet, and the other is technical development, more specifically fusion energy.
The helium-3 found in the universe was created in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago and is mostly found in nebulae. The helium-3 found on Earth was trapped in the planet’s core with other rare elements when the planet formed, and it still exists today. Therefore, where and how this element appears always carries important knowledge about the center of the Earth, and it is very important to know that the magnetic field of our planet is created here, without which there would be no life on Earth, because radiation would flood the surface.
Helium-3 has just one neutron in its nucleus instead of the usual two, and is a promising fuel for nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun, in which nuclei fuse together at high pressure and temperature to release energy. This isotope is therefore one of the keys to achieving fusion energy, but it is rare indeed that this in itself constitutes a major obstacle to this technical leap.
In previous research, it was suggested that rare helium could escape from the planet’s core and reach the planet’s surface through certain processes. All this was a bit of speculation, because we now have no idea what circumstances this could happen.
Nothing moved him, but something did
Forrest Horton, a fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, recently discovered that helium-3 can be detected in the highest levels in ancient lava flow stones on Baffin Island, an important part of the Canadian Arctic.
The helium-3 content in lava on Baffin Island was previously known. Horton and his colleagues took the research to the next level by examining all the lava rocks in the area, finding volcanic rocks that contained more isotopes than anything known to date. The results published in the journal Nature are therefore a serious confirmation of the theory according to which helium-3 escapes from the Earth’s core along with other elements and follows internal structures to the surface in volcanic foci – for example in Hawaii, Iceland or Baffin Island.
It is important that helium-3 is still very rare. In comparison, there is one 3He per million atoms of the most common stable isotope, 4He. These stones are also located in an area considered sacred to the Inuit. So the Horton family was able to reach these places by helicopter after serious organization.
We know very little about the Earth’s essence other than its existence. This makes digging into the heart of the matter both exciting and frustrating. The underlying and outer layers (mantle and crust) are traditionally considered geochemically isolated. Science is increasingly challenging this idea
– Horton wrote to Motherboard, where he said that it is not only clear that the Earth’s core is more dynamic than we thought, but also that the helium in the core essentially survived the massive impact that gave birth to the Moon, which in principle melted and destroyed all nothing on this planet.
Horton emphasized that he was only interested in the Earth’s interior and did not deal with the relationship between helium isotopes and fusion energy. The 3 that were found on this planet are rare because they escape into space as quickly as possible. In asteroids orbiting the solar system or on the moon, which are constantly bombarded by cosmic radiation, there is a much higher concentration of 3He than in the rocks of the Baffin Islands. If anything, it makes an excellent target for space mining.
According to the researcher, this discovery raises more questions than it answers. Among other things, what other ancient elements might have emanated from the core, and in what manner and when they came to the surface.
(Deputy)
