Event Details

Geo-reactors have been found in the natural environment in the terrestrial crust. Others have been postulated in deeper Earth layers such as the core-mantle boundary and even deeper as a central Earth unit.

Speaker: Professor Claude Degueldre

Recent high-precision isotope analysis data has been used to revisit the hypothetical past occurrence of a central Earth geo-reactor. Specific noble gas isotope signatures that could be generated by binary and ternary fissions were identified in volcano emanations or as soluble/associated species in crystalline rocks and semi-quantitatively quantified as an isotopic ratio or estimated amounts. The present lecture focuses on the geo-reactor hypothetical conditions including history, spatial extension and regimes. The discussion based on recent calculations involves investigations on the limits in term of fissile inventory, size and power, based on the coupling of geochemical reactions and stratification through the gravitational field considering behaviour through the inner mantle, the boundary with the core and the core.