An international team of researchers has discovered that helium, previously thought to be chemically inert, can form compounds with iron under high pressure. Using laser-heated diamond anvil cells to simulate extreme conditions of Earth’s interior, the study suggests that significant helium reserves may exist in the Earth’s crust, challenging existing models of the planet’s internal structure.
Traditionally, primordial helium detected in volcanic rocks was believed to originate from deep within the mantle. However, researchers from the University of Tokyo and Taiwan’s National Central University demonstrated that helium can be retained in iron even in more accessible layers of the Earth. Their experiments, conducted at pressures of 5–55 GPa and temperatures up to 3000 K, revealed that iron can contain up to 3.3% helium—5,000 times more than previously estimated.
The experimental method prevented helium leakage by synthesizing compounds at high temperatures and conducting measurements at cryogenic conditions. This confirms that helium can indeed be present in significant amounts within the Earth’s crust. The presence of helium in the core also suggests its possible origin from the primordial gas cloud that once surrounded the early Solar System and its potential connection to the formation of water on Earth.
Additional evidence came in 2023 when geochemists detected high concentrations of helium-3 in rocks from Baffin Island. This finding may indicate the release of core material to the surface, opening new possibilities for studying the planet’s internal dynamics.
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