Using Particle Physics and Geo-Electrons To Probe The Deep Layers of The Earth

The picture depicts the long-range spin-spin interaction (blue wavy lines) in which the spin-sensitive detector on Earth’s surface interacts with geoelectrons (red dots) deep in Earth’s mantle. The arrows on the geoelectrons indicate their spin orientations, opposite that of Earth’s magnetic field lines (white arcs).
Credit: Marc Airhart (University of Texas at Austin) and Steve Jacobsen (Northwestern University).

Researchers have come up with a new technique using particle physics and geo-electrons to find out in great detail what the deep layers of the Earth is made up of and how it behaves.

Scientists for a long time have been trying to understand more about the Earth's core. The surface of the Earth is known as the crust and is around 10 kilometers thick at its thinnest. Below the crust is the mantle and between the mantle and the inner core, it is around 3,000 kilometers. It is impossible by current technologies to even drill past the crust.

In November 2011, Japanese scientist Kei Hirose, used a particle accelerator (the Spring-8 Synchrotron) to recreate the conditions believed to exist at the Earth's core. The experiment suggests that the core is made up of a forest of huge crystals 10 kilometers tall.

Other techniques used to study the Earth's inner layers are by studying the vibrations caused by earthquakes, using x-rays and other imaging techniques, or by mimicking the temperatures and pressures of the deep Earth in laboratories.

Now, researchers from Amherst College and The University of Texas at Austin have developed another technique to solve this geological mystery not by recreating the conditions but by studying electrons found in mantle minerals called geoelectrons.

Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 Will Address Mathematician's Role In Climate Research

Scientific societies, research institutes, universities, and science organizations have dedicated 2013 as a special year for the Mathematics of Planet Earth. As part of the dedication, mathematicians will try to understand weather and climate through math.

Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 (MPE 2013) is an initiative of the science community to encourage research in identifying and solving fundamental questions about planet Earth,encourage educators at all levels to communicate the issues related to Earth, and inform the public about the essential role of the mathematical sciences in facing the challenges to Earth.

MPE also will try and encourage young people interested in sustainability and global issues to consider mathematics as an exciting career choice.

Climate

Climate is the weather condition of an area averaged over a period of time (usually in years). The difference between weather and climate is that weather is the condition of the area in that specified time. Aside from measuring devices such as barometers, weather satellites provide images and data on a global scale on how the present condition of the Earth's climate.

When it comes to forecasting weather and predicting climate there are many factors to consider such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed, and elevations. Both weather and climate share these most, if not all, factors.

Mathematics is used to understand the weather and climate models. Short term weather forecasts have become more accurate now compared to 20 years ago. Computers have helped with this development but more so with the mathematics used by these computer models.

Geoengineering Through Solar Reduction Management (SRM) May Significantly Reduce Rainfall

Volcanic eruptions, such as the one of the Karymsky volcano (Russia) in 2004, release sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere, which has a cooling effect. Geoengineering an ‘artificial volcano’ to mimic this release could be a solution to global warming, but one that may have undesirable effects for the Earth.
Credit: Photo by Alexander Belousov of the Earth Observatory of Singapore

Geoengineering is the manipulation of the Earth's environment. It is also the study and implementation of ways to improve, control, or adjust the atmosphere such as weather patterns, river paths, soils, climates and sea currents on Earth.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is a geoengineering technique to directly reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Its aim is to reduce and mitigate climate change. There are direct and indirect methods to CDR. An example of a direct method is carbon dioxide air capture. This refers to technology attempting to prevent the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere (such as from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries) by capturing the emitted gas, transporting it and ultimately, pumping it into underground geologic formations to securely store it away from the atmosphere.

An indirect method of CDR would be ocean iron fertilization. This method is done by introducing iron to the upper ocean to stimulate a phytoplankton bloom which ultimately uses the marine food chain and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Another geoengineering technique is Solar Radiation Management (SRM). SRM is basically reflecting and minimizing incoming sunlight to reduce the effect of climate change. SRM does not reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and its effect on the environment. The principal advantage of SRM is the speed with which it can be deployed and activated, as well as its low financial cost.

Geoengineering could disrupt rainfall patterns

A geoengineering solution to climate change could lead to significant rainfall reduction in Europe and North America, a team of European scientists concludes. The researchers studied how models of the Earth in a warm, CO2‑rich world respond to an artificial reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the planet’s surface. The study is published today in Earth System Dynamics, an Open Access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

Tackling climate change by reducing the solar radiation reaching our planet using climate engineering, known also as geoengineering, could result in undesirable effects for the Earth and humankind. In particular, the work by the team of German, Norwegian, French, and UK scientists shows that disruption of global and regional rainfall patterns is likely in a geoengineered climate.