Noble gases in submarine pillow basalt glasses from Loihi and Kilauea, Hawaii: A solar component in the Earth

Honda, Masahiko; McDougall, Ian; Patterson, Desmond B; Doulgeris, Anthony P.; Clague, David A.

doi:10.1016/0016-7037(93)90174-u

Cited by 195 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…For years efforts have been made to find unambiguously high 3 He͞ 4 He values in plume-derived oceanic basalts (25,26). A main motivation of those investigations, based on the assumed primordial origin of the 3 He, was to find helium least diluted by 4 He.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications

Herndon¹

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Nuclear georeactor numerical simulation results yield substantial 3 He and 4 He production and 3 He͞ 4 He ratios relative to air (RA) that encompass the entire 2-SD (2 ) confidence level range of tabulated measured 3 He͞ 4 He ratios of basalts from along the global spreading ridge system. Georeactor-produced 3 He͞ 4 He ratios are related to the extent of actinide fuel consumption at time of production and are high near the end of the georeactor lifetime. Georeactor numerical simulation results and the observed high 3 He͞ 4 He ratios measured in Icelandic and Hawaiian oceanic basalts indicate that the demise of the georeactor is approaching. Within the present level of uncertainty, one cannot say precisely when georeactor demise will occur, whether in the next century, in a million years, or in a billion years from now.helium ͉ mantle ͉ nuclear reactor ͉ Earth core E arly in 1939, Hahn and Strassmann (1) published their discovery of nuclear fission. Later in the same year, Flügge (2) speculated on the possibility that self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reactions might have taken place under natural conditions within uranium ore deposits. Applying Fermi's nuclear reactor theory (3), in 1956 Kuroda (4) demonstrated the feasibility that thick seams of uranium ore might have undergone sustained nuclear fission 2,000 million years ago or earlier when the relative proportion of 235 U was greater. In 1972, French scientists (5) discovered the intact remains of a natural nuclear fission reactor that had operated 1,800 million years ago in a 0.5-m-thick seam of uranium ore at Oklo, in the Republic of Gabon. Later other reactor zones were discovered in the region (6). In 1992, Herndon (7), applying Fermi's nuclear reactor theory, demonstrated the feasibility of planetary-scale nuclear fission reactors as energy sources for the giant outer planets, three of which radiate approximately twice as much energy as they each receive from the Sun. Beginning in 1993, Herndon (8-10) demonstrated the feasibility of a planetary-scale nuclear fission reactor at the center of the Earth as the principal energy source for the geomagnetic field and as a contributive energy source for other geodynamic processes, such as plate movement. In 2001, Hollenbach and Herndon (11) published results of numerical simulations of a deep-Earth nuclear fission reactor, conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN, which confirmed the previous considerations of Herndon (8)(9)(10) and demonstrated that 3 He and 4 He would be produced by the georeactor.Clarke et al. (12) discovered that 3 He and 4 He are venting from the Earth's interior. The 3 He͞ 4 He ratio of helium released to the oceans at midoceanic ridges is about eight times greater than in the atmosphere (R͞R A ϭ 8 Ϯ 1, where R is the measured value of 3 He͞ 4 He and R A is the same ratio measured in air ϭ 1.4 ϫ 10 Ϫ6 ), and, therefore, cannot be ascribed to atmospheric contamination. Iceland plume 3 He͞ 4 He values have been found (13) as high as Ϸ37 R A . Natural radioactive d...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications

Herndon¹

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Ocean island basalts (OIB) derived from mantle plumes commonly have 3 He/ 4 He ratios that are higher than mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) that originate in the upper, asthenospheric mantle [1][2][3] He and solar-like Ne isotope ratios 4 reflect a higher proportion of primordial volatiles in the source region and, in the current paradigm, indicate that plumes tap a deep mantle reservoir that is significantly less degassed than the asthenospheric mantle. Although a number of locations have been proposed for this reservoir 5 , a lower mantle that has been convectively isolated below the 670-km seismic discontinuity for the lifetime of the Earth 6 is consistent with the mass balance of the depleted mantle and continental crust 7 .…”

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confidence: 93%

“…The high 3 He/ 4 He ratio of volcanic rocks thought to be derived from mantle plumes is taken as evidence for the existence of a mantle reservoir that has remained largely undegassed since the Earth's accretion [1][2][3] . The helium isotope composition of this reservoir places constraints on the origin of volatiles within the Earth and on the evolution and structure of the Earth's mantle.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

High 3He/4He ratios in picritic basalts from Baffin Island and the role of a mixed reservoir in mantle plumes

Stuart

Lass-Evans

Fitton

et al. 2003

Nature

287

204

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“…The sources of these pressure-dependent effects are not well known or characterized and must depend, to a certain degree, on different protocols used in various laboratories: some laboratories retune the spectrometer source voltages for optimum sensitivity prior to each analysis, whereas standard practice elsewhere is to``tune up'' the source only rarely, for example, only after a power-down. Honda et al [1993] showed that the 3 He/ 4 He discrimination in a VG5400 increased by $10% between low (2 Â 10 À8 torr) and high ($1 Â 10 À6 torr) He pressure in the mass spectrometer. Similarly, discrimination and sensitivity of He and Ar increase with pressure in the Caltech MAP 215-50 (see below).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calibration of pressure‐dependent sensitivity and discrimination in Nier‐type noble gas ion sources

Burnard

Farley

2000

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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[1] The efficiency of many noble gas mass spectrometers to ionize gas species is known to be a function of the pressure of gas in the spectrometer. This work shows how the half plate voltage for maximum He or Ar signal depends on the spectrometer pressure and shows that the half plate voltage for maximum 4 He sensitivity does not coincide with the half plate voltage for maximum 3 He sensitivity. In addition, half plate voltage has a greater control on sensitivity at higher spectrometer pressures. Variations in He and Ar sensitivity and isotopic discrimination as a function of pressure are due, at least in part, to these variations in the position of maximum sensitivity with respect to half plate voltage. The maximum sensitivity settings shift to lower half plate voltage at high spectrometer pressures, irrespective of if the pressure increase is due to the gas being investigated or a different species. Therefore noble gas mass spectrometers should always be tuned at the maximum possible pressure; measurements at higher pressures should be avoided. Significant errors in the spectrometer sensitivity and discrimination can result from improper tuning and calibration of noble gas mass spectrometers.

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Noble gases in submarine pillow basalt glasses from Loihi and Kilauea, Hawaii: A solar component in the Earth

Cited by 195 publications

References 52 publications

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications

High 3He/4He ratios in picritic basalts from Baffin Island and the role of a mixed reservoir in mantle plumes

Calibration of pressure‐dependent sensitivity and discrimination in Nier‐type noble gas ion sources

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Noble gases in submarine pillow basalt glasses from Loihi and Kilauea, Hawaii: A solar component in the Earth

Cited by 195 publications

References 52 publications

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt 3 He/ 4 He, evidence, and implications

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt 3 He/ 4 He, evidence, and implications

High 3He/4He ratios in picritic basalts from Baffin Island and the role of a mixed reservoir in mantle plumes

Calibration of pressure‐dependent sensitivity and discrimination in Nier‐type noble gas ion sources

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Resources

About

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications

Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt ³ He/ ⁴ He, evidence, and implications