🌍SNO+ Detects First Geoneutrinos in Western Hemisphere

First geoneutrinos detected in the West, offering new insights into Earth's interior

SNO+ experiment in Canada has detected its first geoneutrinos, marking the first detection in the western hemisphere. This is significant as it offers a new perspective on Earth's radioactive interior, which has been primarily studied in the eastern hemisphere. The detection of geoneutrinos, which are produced in processes that heat the Earth's interior, could hint at differences in the mantle's composition between different regions. The SNO+ experiment, located 2 kilometers underground in the Creighton mine, consists of an acrylic sphere lined with nearly 10,000 sensitive light detectors and filled with 780 tons of oily liquid scintillator. Researchers have captured only a few hundred thousand of the trillions of neutrinos that pass through our bodies every second, making each detection precious. The detection of geoneutrinos in different locations could hint that the mantle is not uniform, with large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVs) under Africa and the Pacific Ocean producing the most geoneutrinos.