Scientists Discover Rare Helium in Volcanic Rocks on Canada’s Baffin Island
Scientists have made a surprising discovery of a rare form of helium, known as helium-3, in volcanic rocks on Baffin Island in Canada. The presence of this helium-type supports the theory that it is leaking from the Earth’s core and has been doing so for thousands of years. In addition to helium-3, the research team also found helium-4 in the rocks.
While helium-4 is commonly found on Earth, helium-3 is more abundant in the cosmos. Therefore, scientists were astonished to detect a higher level of helium-3 than previously recorded, hinting at its origin from Baffin Island rocks. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature.
Study lead author Forrest Horton, an associate scientist in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, explained that helium-3 is rare on Earth because it has not been produced or added to the planet in significant quantities and is lost to space. As the Earth’s rocky interior churns and convects, helium is lost to the atmosphere and eventually escapes into space during the cooling stage.
The discovery of elements leaking from the Earth’s core provides valuable insights into the formation and evolution of our planet. These findings reinforce the existing hypothesis that our planet originated in a solar nebula, a cloud of gas and dust that collapsed due to the shock wave of a nearby supernova, containing helium-3.
The research was conducted on Baffin Island in 2018, examining lava that erupted millions of years ago during the separation of Greenland and North America. The team sought to investigate rocks that could hold information about the Earth’s core and mantle.
The Arctic rocks of Baffin Island revealed higher measurements of helium-3 and helium-4 than previous studies and varied among the collected samples. Horton and his team discovered approximately 10 million helium-3 atoms per gram of olivine crystals. He stated that the elevated 3He/4He measurements imply that gases from the solar nebula, which were thought to be lost, are better preserved on Earth.
The scientists believe that helium-3 originated from the Big Bang, along with hydrogen and helium. As the solar system formed, the dust cloud collapsed, resulting in a rotating disk that eventually created our Sun and planets. Helium-3 inherited from the solar nebula is believed to have been trapped in the Earth’s core during the planet’s formation, later escaping to the surface through the mantle as magma columns and erupting on Baffin Island.
Horton explained that during the eruption, most of the gases escaped into the atmosphere, leaving only olivine crystals to trap and preserve deep-Earth helium. Although researchers are uncertain when this leakage process began, the rocks investigated on Baffin Island are estimated to be 60 million years old. The escape of helium from the core could have occurred around 100 million years ago or even earlier.
Horton assured that helium leaks from the Earth’s core have no negative implications for our planet or the environment. Helium is chemically inert and does not react with matter. The research team’s next goal is to determine if the core stores other light elements, such as carbon and hydrogen, which may explain why the Earth’s outer core has a lower density than anticipated.