Seminar Bill McDonough (UMD) Nov 27th 1pm
Post date: Nov 25, 2014 6:36:56 AM
on Thursday Prof. Bill McDonough from the University of Maryland, will give a seminar on
"Geoneutrinos and heat production in the Earth".
Geo-neutrinos, produced in beta decays of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes in the Earth, are a unique direct probe of our planets interior. The kTon-scale, underground, liquid scintillation detectors in Japan and Italy, which measure the flux of these electron anti-neutrinos, reveal that radiogenic heat from the decay of Th and U (only detectable signal) contributes between 20% and 50% of the Earth's present-day power (46+/-3 TW). These particle physics experiments are now establishing limits on acceptable compositional models for the Earth and defining the amount of nuclear power inside the Earth available to drive plate tectonics, mantle convection, and the geodynamo.
His talk will be on Thursday Nov 27th at 1pm in Samsung Library in the seminar room on the second floor. The talk is part of a workshop I am hosting. You can find details at:
best regards,
Carsten