Primordial Radioactivity and Prebiotic Chemical Evolution: Effect of γ Radiation on Formamide-Based Synthesis.

Although the effect of ionizing radiation on prebiotic chemistry is often overlooked, primordial natural radioactivity might have been an important source of energy for various chemical transformations. Estimates of the abundances of short-lived radionuclides on early Earth suggest that the primordial intensity of endogenous terrestrial radioactivity was up to 4 × 10 times higher than it is today. Therefore, we assume that chemical substances in contact with radioactive rocks should therefore undergo radiolysis.

Revealing the Earth's mantle from the tallest mountains using the Jinping Neutrino Experiment.

The Earth's engine is driven by unknown proportions of primordial energy and heat produced in radioactive decay. Unfortunately, competing models of Earth's composition reveal an order of magnitude uncertainty in the amount of radiogenic power driving mantle dynamics. Recent measurements of the Earth's flux of geoneutrinos, electron antineutrinos from terrestrial natural radioactivity, reveal the amount of uranium and thorium in the Earth and set limits on the residual proportion of primordial energy.