Neutrinos From Deep Inside Earth Provide a New Picture of the Mantle
>Clearer estimates of the geoneutrino flux at each experiment could come from more detailed geological data, as well as further geoneutrino counts at each site. However, McDonough says the best thing would be to build a neutrino detector at the bottom of the ocean(opens a new tab). It’s an idea McDonough has championed for decades(opens a new tab).
>Such a detector would be far from continental rocks, which are rich in radioactive elements; oceanic crust is also thinner and more uniform. Crust-related uncertainties go down so much that “you are in mantle-only territory,” he said.
>The idea of an ocean-bottom detector, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars(opens a new tab), has seen little take-up from government funders to date. But McDonough is hoping he can make something happen in China, which has given the green light to other big geoscience projects(opens a new tab). “It’s very possible,” he said. Until then, physicists will keep paddling around for answers deep underground.