Scientists discover anomalies in the Earth's core
A study of a 62-million-year-old lava flow on Baffin Island in the Arctic Archipelago revealed unusually high levels of helium-3 (³He), an extremely rare isotope normally associated with material deep in the Earth's core.
Helium-3 is an isotope of helium that has only one neutron instead of two. It is a promising fuel for fusion reactions, providing an energy source based on the same process that powers the sun and stars.
Helium-3 is also a primordial component of the Earth, which could shed light on key processes at the core, such as the formation of our planet's geomagnetic field.
Most of the helium-3 in the universe likely originated in the Big Bang that created the universe 13.8 billion years ago. It is an ancient gas that often surrounds nebulae.
When the Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago, helium-3 from the solar nebula was deposited in the Sun's core. Previous studies have suggested that the presence of helium-3 on Earth may have originated in the Earth's core, but the specifics to support this hypothesis remain a mystery.
The new discovery has revealed new information about the deepest and most mysterious region of our planet. At the same time, experts think about the possibility that helium-3 from the core can "escape" through the mantle and erupt to the surface of the Earth in the form of lava flows.
Through this, scientists think that the Earth's core may be leaking the rare helium, overturning the long-standing hypothesis that the molten iron core at the center of the Earth is a sealed and truly closed sphere.
The report's leader, geochemist Forrest Horton of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA), said the new discovery shows that the Earth's core is more active than previously thought.
"A key question is, assuming the helium-3 on Baffin Island does originate from the Earth's core, is there any other element leaking from the Earth's core? And when did this leak start?" Horton said, some questions that need to be addressed in future studies.
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