Towards imaging Earth's large-scale structures by directional geoneutrino detection with Ocean Bottom Detector
Abstract
Geoneutrinos, electron antineutrinos produced by radioactive decays of heat-producing elements (HPEs) within the Earth, provide unique insights into Earth's interior and heat budget since their first detection in 2005 by KamLAND. Conventional geoneutrino detectors currently provide integrated global information and lack the capability to spatially resolve structures deep within the Earth. Here, we evaluate the ability of angular-sensitive geoneutrino detectors to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous mantle models, focusing on Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). Our results show that LLSVPs enriched in Th and U yield a distinct flux of geoneutrinos with distinctive angular patterns. An oceanic site above the Pacific LLSVP is considered a particularly favorable detector location. The Ocean Bottom Detector (OBD) project aims to leverage this spatial resolving advantage by deploying a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector directly on the ocean floor, enabling unprecedented sensitivity for mantle geoneutrino detection. These findings demonstrate the critical role of combining geophysical and geochemical data to guide detector site selection, ultimately improving constraints on Earth's internal heat and the HPE distribution.
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BibTeX
@misc{xu2026towards,
title = {{Towards imaging Earth's large-scale structures by directional geoneutrino detection with Ocean Bottom Detector}},
author = {Zhihao Xu and Takumi Araki and Simran Chauhan and Brian C. Crow and Max A. A. Dornfest and Stephen T. Dye and John Graham and Misaki Hosoya and Kunio Inoue and John G. Learned and Viacheslav A. Li and William F. McDonough and Takeru Ohno and Takanobu Ono and Taichi Sakai and Jackson Seligman and Nathan Sibert and David Vartanyan and Hiroko Watanabe and Jeffrey Yepez},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.13273},
eprint = {2606.13273},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.13273},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Towards imaging Earth's large-scale structures by directional geoneutrino detection with Ocean Bottom Detector
AU - Zhihao Xu
AU - Takumi Araki
AU - Simran Chauhan
AU - Brian C. Crow
AU - Max A. A. Dornfest
AU - Stephen T. Dye
AU - John Graham
AU - Misaki Hosoya
AU - Kunio Inoue
AU - John G. Learned
AU - Viacheslav A. Li
AU - William F. McDonough
AU - Takeru Ohno
AU - Takanobu Ono
AU - Taichi Sakai
AU - Jackson Seligman
AU - Nathan Sibert
AU - David Vartanyan
AU - Hiroko Watanabe
AU - Jeffrey Yepez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/11
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.13273
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.13273
AB - Geoneutrinos, electron antineutrinos produced by radioactive decays of heat-producing elements (HPEs) within the Earth, provide unique insights into Earth's interior and heat budget since their first detection in 2005 by KamLAND. Conventional geoneutrino detectors currently provide integrated global information and lack the capability to spatially resolve structures deep within the Earth. Here, we evaluate the ability of angular-sensitive geoneutrino detectors to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous mantle models, focusing on Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). Our results show that LLSVPs enriched in Th and U yield a distinct flux of geoneutrinos with distinctive angular patterns. An oceanic site above the Pacific LLSVP is considered a particularly favorable detector location. The Ocean Bottom Detector (OBD) project aims to leverage this spatial resolving advantage by deploying a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector directly on the ocean floor, enabling unprecedented sensitivity for mantle geoneutrino detection. These findings demonstrate the critical role of combining geophysical and geochemical data to guide detector site selection, ultimately improving constraints on Earth's internal heat and the HPE distribution.
ER -