Queen’s researchers use geoneutrinos to study Earth’s composition - The Queen's Journal

For centuries, scientists have tried to answer the question, “What’s the Earth made of?” While drilling projects and geological studies have revealed clues about the planet’s crust, the deeper layers remain largely inaccessible.Now, researchers at Queen’s University are turning to an unlikely source of information—subatomic particles known as geoneutrinos—to probe the planet’s interior.The research comes from a Queen’s-led team working with the SNO+ neutrino detector at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario. Located two kilometres underground to shield it from radiation and other interference, the detector is designed to capture faint flashes of light produced when neutrinos interact with a liquid scintillator, a solution of organic compounds that emits light when exposed to radiation, inside a spherical tank.