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Geoneutrinos and geoscience: an intriguing joint-venture

  • Review Paper
  • Published:
La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Aims and scope

Abstract

The review is conceived to provide a useful toolbox to understand present geoneutrino results with a view to shed light on Earth’s energetics and composition. The status of the geoneutrino field is presented starting from the comprehension of their production, propagation, and detection, and going on with the experimental and technological features of the Borexino and KamLAND ongoing experiments. The current understanding of the energetical, geophysical and geochemical traits of our planet is examined in a critical analysis of the currently available models. By combining theoretical models and experimental results, the mantle geoneutrino signal extracted from the results of the two experiments demonstrates the effectiveness in investigating deep earth radioactivity through geoneutrinos from different sites. The obtained results are discussed and framed in the puzzle of the diverse classes of formulated Bulk Silicate Earth models, analyzing their implications on planetary heat budget and composition. As final remarks, we turn our gaze to the prospects in the field of geoneutrinos presenting the expectations of experiments envisaged for the next decade and the engaging technological challenges foreseen.

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taken from cameras mounted inside the SSS

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taken from the preferred interval estimated by [107] (Sect. 6.2.2). The extremes of the range of C are obtained by Q + 1σ minus the lower value of H range (i.e., 47 + 2 − 10 = 39 TW) and Q − 1σ minus the upper value of H range (i.e., 47 – 2 − 37  = 8 TW). We set CLS = 0, since the secular cooling of the lithosphere can be considered negligible (Sect. 6.2.2)

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available at www.fe.infn.it/radioactivity/antineutrino/index.html. The locations of current and future liquid scintillator experiments are superimposed with different marker symbols

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Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Geoneutrinos emitters include 40K, 87Rb, 113Cd, 115In, 138La, 176Lu, 187Re and the elements belonging to the decay chains of 232Th, 235U and 238U. Because of their longer half-lives or higher abundances, the most important emitters in terms of luminosity are 40K and the ones belonging to 232Th and 238U decay chains, with only the latter two observable with present detection techniques. Differently from the other mentioned isotopes (which only undergo β− decays), 40K can produce both neutrinos and antineutrinos (Sect. 11.6). However, the detection of neutrinos is prevented by their low energy and the overwhelming solar neutrino flux which is nearly three orders of magnitude higher.

  2. The condensation temperatures are the temperatures at which 50% of the element will be in the form of a solid (rock) under a pressure of 10−4 bar.

  3. Even in these meteorites volatile elements have been depleted to various degrees, including the six most abundant elements (H, He, C, N, O and Ne) and lithium.

  4. Note that the NFC defined by Wipperfurth et al. 2020 is not coincident with the NFC defined by Huang et al. 2013 (Fig. 26).

  5. The 3D geophysical model is available at https://www.fe.infn.it/radioactivity/Borexino/.

  6. The possibility of a layer enriched in HPEs in the upper part of the mantle is disproved by several geochemical arguments and observations. The main idea is that if processes would have led to an enriched upper layer, extensions of those physical and chemical processes would have carried the lithophile elements into the lithosphere.

  7. The 3D geophysical model is available at https://www.fe.infn.it/radioactivity/SNO + /

  8. The 3D geophysical model is available at https://www.fe.infn.it/radioactivity/GIGJ/

Abbreviations

\({a(\mathrm{K})}_{X}\) :

Abundance of potassium in the reservoir X (ng g−1 or mg g−1)

\({a(\mathrm{Th})}_{X}\) :

Abundance of uranium in the reservoir X (ng g−1 or mg g−1)

\({a(\mathrm{U})}_{X}\) :

Abundance of thorium in the reservoir X (ng g−1 or mg g−1)

ACT :

Surface area—continents (106 km2)

AOC :

Surface area—oceans (106 km2)

A10:

Arevalo 2010

BC:

Bulk crust

BSE:

Bulk silicate Earth

c 0 :

Velocity of light vacuum (299,792,458 m s−1)

Ch:

Chondrites

C :

Secular cooling—Earth (TW)

C X :

Secular cooling of the reservoir X (TW)

CC:

Continental crust

CJPL:

China Jinping Underground Laboratory

CNO:

Carbon nitrogen oxygen

CT:

Central tile (NFC of Borexino)

CTF:

Counting test facility

CMB:

Core mantle boundary

DC:

Delayed coincidence

DM:

Depleted mantle

E H :

Energy of heat production (MeV)

\({E}_{\overline{\nu }}\) :

Energy of antineutrino (MeV)

E max :

Maximal energy of the emitted antineutrino (MeV)

EM:

Enriched mantle

FV:

Fiducial volume

FFC:

Far field crust

f C :

Core-mantle differentiation factor

f D :

Enriching factor due to volatilization

h :

Specific isotopic heat production (W kg−1)

h′:

Elemental specific heat production (W kg−1)

H :

Radiogenic heat—bulk Earth (TW)

H X :

Radiogenic heat in the reservoir X (TW)

H13:

Huang et al. 2013

HPE:

Heat producing element

IB:

Inner balloon of KamLAND detector

IBD:

Inverse beta decay

IC:

Inner core

ID:

Inner detector

IV:

Inner vessel

J10:

Javoy et al. 2010

JJ13:

Jackson and Jellinek 2013

JK14:

Javoy and Kaminski 2014

JS:

Japan Sea

JUNO:

Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory

L :

Distance travelled by the antineutrino from its emission point (m)

LAB:

Lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary

LLSVP:

Large low velocity province

LC:

Lower crust

LK07:

Lyubetskaya and Korenaga 2007

LM:

Lower mantle

LNGS:

Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso

LS:

Lithosphere

M:

Mantle

M X :

Mass of the BSE (kg)

M C :

Mass of the core (kg)

\({M(\mathrm{K})}_{X}\) :

Mass of potassium in the reservoir X (kg)

\({M(\mathrm{Th})}_{X}\) :

Mass of uranium in the reservoir X (kg)

\({M(\mathrm{U})}_{X}\) :

Mass of thorium in the reservoir X (kg)

\({M}_{V}\) :

Mass of the volatilized material (kg)

m p :

Mass of parent nuclide (kg)

m d :

Mass of daughter nuclide (kg)

MC:

Middle crust

MLP:

Multi-layer perceptron

MOHO:

Mohorovicic discontinuity

MORB:

Mid ocean ridge basalts

MS95:

McDonough and Sun 1995

N :

Number of antineutrinos emitted per decay of the parent nucleus (decay−1)

\({N}_{p}\) :

Number of proton targets available in the detector

\({N}_{\mathrm{U}}\) :

Number of U geoneutrino events

\({N}_{\mathrm{Th}}\) :

Number of Th geoneutrino events

\({N}_{\mathrm{geo}}\) :

Number of total geoneutrino events

NFC:

Near field crust

OBD:

Ocean bottom detector

OC:

Outer core

OV:

Outer vessel

OD:

Outer detector

OIB:

Ocean island basalts

OP08:

O’Neill and Palme 2008

p.e.:

Photoelectrons

P ee :

Electron antineutrino survival probability

PC:

Pseudocumene

PDF:

Probability density function

PO07:

Palme and O’Neill 2007

PO14:

Palme and O’Neill 2014

PMT:

Photomultiplier tube

Q :

Integrated terrestrial surface heat power (TW)

q CT :

Mean heat flux—continents (mWm−2)

q OC :

Mean heat flux—oceans (mWm−2)

Q CT :

Heat power—continents (TW)

Q OCS :

Heat power—oceans (TW)

RLE:

Refractory lithophile elements

RR:

Rest of region (NFC of Borexino)

SED:

Sedimentary layer

SNO +:

Sudbury neutrino observatory

SSS:

Stainless steel sphere

S X(U + Th):

Geoneutrino signal from U and Th in the reservoir X (TNU)

\(S{p}_{i}(i, {E}_{\overline{\nu }})\) :

Energy spectra of the produced geoneutrino of the i-th HPE

T :

Exposure time

T 1/2 :

Half life (Myr)

T C :

Condensation temperature (K)

T02:

Turcotte 2002

T04:

Turcotte 2004

TNU:

Terrestrial neutrino unit

U R :

Urey ratio

UC:

Upper crust

ULVZ:

Ultra low velocity zone

UM:

Upper mantle

v p :

Seismic velocity of primary compressional waves (km s−1)

v s :

Seismic velocity of secondary shear waves (km s−1)

V X :

Seismic velocity in the reservoir X (km s−1)

W18:

Wang et al. 2018

W20-C2:

Wipperfurth et al. 2020 based on Crust 2.0

W20-C1:

Wipperfurth et al. 2020 based on Crust 1.0

W20-L1:

Wipperfurth et al. 2020 based on Litho 1.0

X iso :

Natural isotopic abundance

\(\lambda \) :

Decay constant (s−1)

\({\epsilon }_{\overline{\nu }}\) :

Antineutrino production rates for unit mass of the isotope (kg−1 s−1)

\({\epsilon {{\prime}}}_{\overline{\nu }}\) :

Antineutrino production rates for unit mass at natural isotopic abundance (kg−1 s−1)

\({\Phi }_{i}\) :

Unoscillated geoneutrino flux of the i-th HPE (cm−2 s−1)

\({\theta }_{12},{\theta }_{13}\) and \({\theta }_{23}\) :

Mixing angles between neutrinos eigenstates (rad)

\(\delta {m}^{2}\) and \(\Delta {m}^{2}\) :

Square mass differences between neutrinos eigenstates (MeV)

\(\eta \) :

Detector efficiency

\(\sigma \) :

IBD cross section (cm2)

ρ :

Mass density (g cm−3 or kg m−3)

\({\overline{\nu }}_{e}\) :

Electron-flavoured antineutrino

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Acknowledgements

KI and HW gratefully thank the KamLAND Collaboration for continues supports and contributions. The KamLAND experiment has been supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Kamioka Mining and Smelting Company has provided services for activities in the mine. GB, FM, VG, AS thank the members of the collaboration who in various aspects contributed to the Borexino geoneutrino results in addition to the Gran Sasso Laboratory and the Italian INFN, the US NSF as well as the German BMBF, DFG, HGF, MPG, the Russian RFBR, the Polish RSF, for their support. GB thanks Livia Ludhova for the usefull discussions and Sandra Zavatarelli for her important help. FM, VS and AS would like to thank Giovanni Fiorentini, Eligio Lisi, William McDonough, Scott Wipperfurth and Ondřej Šrámek for the fruitful discussions and Kassandra Raptis for her precious support. Also supported by MAVA (PNBA-site emblématique pour les tortues) and PRCM/STM POOOA4/OA9.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Milan and INFN, 20133, Milan, Italy

    G. Bellini

  2. Research Center for Neutrino Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    K. Inoue & H. Watanabe

  3. Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Tokyo University, Kashiwa, 277-8568, Japan

    K. Inoue

  4. Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara and INFN, 44122, Ferrara, Italy

    F. Mantovani, A. Serafini & V. Strati

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  1. G. Bellini
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Correspondence to G. Bellini.

Appendices

Appendix A.1—The crust near KamLAND

The Japan island arc, hosting the KamLAND detector, is part of a continental shelf located close to the eastern margin of the Eurasian plate. The Philippine plate and the Pacific plate are moving toward the Eurasian plate and are subducting, respectively, beneath the southern and the northern part of Japan. The submarine trenches are thus formed with parallel uplifted areas and intense igneous activity. The KamLAND detector is sited in a typical continental crust of Island Arc and Forearc environment. The Japan Sea (JS), situated between the Japan island arc and the Asian continent, is classified as marginal sea and it is bordered by islands and expanded basins on the back-arc side (back arc basin).

Enomoto et al. [3] and Fiorentini et al. [20] proposed a site-specific geophysical and geochemical modeling of the crust near the KamLAND detector and additionally studied the effects on geoneutrino signal of the peculiarities characterizing the subducting slab and the JS crust. The geophysical structure of the Japanese crust depicted, based on [219], envisages the presence of two layers, the UC and the LC, separated by the Conrad discontinuity and doesn’t account for the presence of SED and MC. The BC thickness ranges between 32 and 40 km with both the UC and LC accounting for the half of the total thickness. From the geochemical point of view, the LC is treated as a homogenous layer with aLC(U) = 0.85 ± 0.23 µg g−1 and aLC(Th) = 5.19 ± 2.08 µg g−1 based on the model of the reported in [220]. A more refined modeling is dedicated to the UC, which U and Th abundances are distributed with a 0.25° × 0.25° resolution grid adopting the chemical composition estimated by [221]. The measurements on 166 samples, collected on the exposed crust and associated to 37 geological groups, are adopted to infer the geochemical abundances for the whole UC. The surface exposure weighted average abundances are estimated to be aUC(U) = 2.32 µg g−1 and aUC(Th) = 8.3 µg g−1, slightly lower than the typical continental crust abundances. It is worth highlighting that although the analyzed data set does not include only rocks from the crystalline basement rocks, this approach ignores the presence of a distinct SED layer.

The subducting slabs of the Philippine and Pacific plates could represent a radionuclides enrichment factor for the LC of the Japan Arc. Fiorentini et al. [20] modeled a single slab penetrating below Japan with an average velocity v = 60 mm year−1 on a time scale T ∼ 108 year and encompasses two extreme scenarios for the evaluation of the impact of the subduction processes on the prediction of geoneutrino signal, i.e., (1) the slab keeps its trace elements during the subduction and supposing (2) all the U from the subducting crust is dissolved in fluids and transported to the base of the LC of Japan arc. The corresponding enrichment factor are 1.06 and 2.57 translating in an estimation of the total signal of the subducting slab of SSlab(U + Th) = 2.92 ± 0.88 TNU. According to [3], the subducting slab is a oceanic crust layer with a thickness of 10 km that, with the same composition of the OCC, originate an increase on the total geoneutrino flux of 0.21% for U and 0.11% for Th. Note that, based on seismic arguments, [3] set also the presence of a “cold” slab accumulated at the boundary between the UM and the LM (∼ 670 km). The U and Th abundances assigned to the slab (aSlab(U) = 0.021 μg g−1 and aSlab(Th) = 0.065 μg g−1) are assumed to originate an increase of the total flux of 2.1% and 1.0%.

An additional peculiarity of KL consists in the controversial nature of the crust beneath the JS. Although global models classify this portion of crust as a typical OCC, its higher thickness and the presence of fragments of CC make it unique and different. Fiorentini et al. [20] estimated the minimal and maximal geoneutrino production assuming for the JS crust two extreme scenario: (1) a typical OCC with a thickness of 7 km and a overlaying 1 km SED layer; (2) a typical CC characterized by a thickness of 19 km and an overlaying 4 km SED layer. The contribution to the signal from the JS SJS(U + Th) = 0.43 ± 0.13 TNU is thus defined as the central value of these two extremes with uncertainties encompassing the extreme values with 3σ. Enomoto et al. [3] studied that the effect of the JS crust can produce an increase of the total geoneutrino flux ranging between the 0.36% and 2%, assigning a continental or oceanic composition, respectively.

The SNFC(U + Th) estimated by [20] (Table 27) includes the signal produced by the six tiles (Fig. 26a), the subducting slab and the JS crust. For [3], only the SBC(U + Th) is reported, since the data do not permit to infer the signal from the NFC and from the FFC.

Appendix A.2—The crust near Borexino

The Gran Sasso range, where the Borexino experiment is located, is a massif of the Central sector of the Apennines, a peri-mediterranean chain part of the Adria plate. The actual geological structure of the Apennine chain is the result of the geodynamical processes occurred during its orogenesis began in the early Neogene (20 million years ago).

A refined reference model for the Gran Sasso area was developed by [180] in which local and specific geophysical and geochemical information are used to provide an estimate of the geoneutrino signal originated from the 6° × 4° (492 × 444 km) portion of the crust surrounding the LNGS (Fig. 26). The model subdivides the study area in two zones, the central tile (CT) and the rest of the region (RR), which are described with different degree of resolution. The CT, i.e., the crustal portion within ∼ 100 km from the Borexino detector, is described with a simplified tectonic model characterized by a typical resolution of (2.0 km × 2.0 km × 0.5 km).

The crust has a layered structure typical of Central Apennines, characterized by a SED cover thicker than that reported for the same area in any global crustal model (∼1 km, see Fig. 25). The deep structure of the Central Apennines was investigated analyzing data from the eastern part of CROP 11 deep reflection seismic profile that cuts across the whole chain. The interpretation of this profile, coupled with detailed information coming from deep (∼ 4 km) exploration wells, assures around the Gran Sasso area the existence of a thick (> 10 km) sedimentary sequence overlying the crystalline crust, detailed in Fig. 8 of [222]. Excluding the rare and shallow volcanic deposits, the sedimentary pile includes different sequences of carbonate and terrigenous sediments from Late Triassic to Pleistocene which reflect diverse depositional environments (carbonate platform and silicoclastic depositional systems). The U and Th mass abundances were obtained by ICP-MS and gamma spectroscopy measurements of the rock samples representative of the sedimentary succession and collected within 200 km from the LNGS. Considering the relative volume of the different reservoirs estimated on the basis of the 3D geological model, the weighted average abundance obtained for U (aSED(U) = 0.8 ± 0.2 μg g−1) and Th (aSED(Th) = 2.0 ± 0.5 μg g−1) are incompatible at more than 5σ level with global estimates (Table 21).

The overall thickness of the crust (∼ 35 km) modeled by [180] is in agreement with the global reference models (∼ 34 km, Fig. 25) and it is confirmed by the studies reported in [223, 224]. The local seismic sections do not highlight any evidence of MC and as result the crystalline basement is subdivided into UC (∼ 13 km) and LC (∼ 9 km). The U and Th mass abundances are obtained by ICP-MS and gamma spectroscopy measurements of the rock samples collected from the closest representative outcrops of UC and LC of the South Alpine basement, located in Ivrea-Verbano Zone and in Valsugana. The U and Th abundances adopted for the UC and LC are compatible at 1σ level with the estimates provided by the global models (Table 21).

The geoneutrino signal of the NFC is SNFC(U + Th) = 9.2 ± 1.2 TNU, where 77% of the signal originates from U and Th distributed in the CT. The maximal and minimal excursions of various input values and uncertainties reported in [180] are taken as the ± 3σ error range. The U and Th signal errors are conservatively considered fully positively correlated. The reduction of ∼ 6 TNU and ∼ 9 TNU with respect to the estimations which H13 and W20, respectively, provide—for the almost coincident crustal area (Fig. 26)—is mainly due to presence of thick sedimentary deposits composed primarily of U- and Th-poor carbonate rocks which are not taken into account in the global reference models.

Appendix A.3—Geoneutrino signal calculation

The geoneutrino signals in Tables 24 and 27 are reported as appeared in the corresponding references, or in some specific cases, are calculated using updated oscillation parameters. In this section, the approaches followed are detailed.

As in H13 the SNFC(U + Th) are not given, we infer it from the subtraction between SBC(U + Th) and SFFC(U + Th), the error propagation is performed via a Monte Carlo sampling of HPEs abundances according to their PDF to propagate the asymmetrical uncertainties of the non-Gaussian distributions.

For KamLAND, the SBC(U + Th) of [3] is calculated as SBC(U + Th) = SBC(U) + SBC(Th), where

$${S}_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{U}\right)={\phi }_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{U}\right) \cdot \frac{0.55}{0.59}\cdot \langle {\sigma }_{\mathrm{U}}\rangle $$
$${S}_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{Th}\right)={\phi }_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{Th}\right) \cdot \frac{0.55}{0.59}\cdot \langle {\sigma }_{\mathrm{Th}}\rangle $$

where \({\phi }_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{U}\right)\) and \({\phi }_{\mathrm{BC}}\left(\mathrm{Th}\right)\) are the uranium and thorium geoneutrino flux given from the sum of the crustal components reported in Table 2 of [3]; 0.55 e 0.59 are the average survival probability (\(\langle {P}_{\mathrm{ee}}\rangle \)) and the value adopted by [3], respectively; \(\langle {\sigma }_{\mathrm{U}}\rangle \) and \(\langle {\sigma }_{\mathrm{Th}}\rangle \) are the integrated IBD cross-section (see Sect. 2). The error propagation SBC(U + Th) is performed considering SBC(U) and SBC(Th) fully positive correlated.

For Borexino and KamLAND, the SBC(U + Th) of [24] and the relative uncertainties, are calculated rescaling the values reported in the reference (calculated with \(\langle {P}_{\mathrm{ee}}\rangle =0.56\)) for the updated \(\langle {P}_{\mathrm{ee}}\rangle =0.55.\)

For KamLAND and Borexino the SNFC(U + Th), SFFC(U + Th) and SBC(U + Th) of [20] are obtained summing the corresponding U and Th contributions reported and considering it fully positive correlated.

For Borexino, the SNFC(U + Th), SFFC(U + Th) and SBC(U + Th) as [180] and the relative uncertainties, are calculated rescaling the values reported in the reference (calculated with \(\langle {P}_{\mathrm{ee}}\rangle =0.57\)) for the updated \(\langle {P}_{\mathrm{ee}}\rangle =0.55.\)

The SNFC(U + Th) expected at Borexino of [10] is reported as it appears in the reference, while SFFC(U + Th) is taken from H13, since the same inputs are used. The SBC(U + Th) is obtained summing the SNFC(U + Th) an SFFC(U + Th) contribution with the error propagation performed via a Monte Carlo sampling of HPEs abundances according to their PDF to propagate the asymmetrical uncertainties of the non-Gaussian distributions.

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Bellini, G., Inoue, K., Mantovani, F. et al. Geoneutrinos and geoscience: an intriguing joint-venture. Riv. Nuovo Cim. 45, 1–105 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40766-021-00026-7

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