Electromagnetic and neutron emissions from brittle rocks failure: Experimental evidence and geological implications

Abstract

It has been observed energy emission in the form of electromagnetic radiation, clearly indicating charge redistribution, and neutron bursts, necessarily involving nuclear reactions, during the failure process of quasi-brittle materials such as rocks, when subjected to compression tests. The material used is Luserna stone, which presents a very brittle behaviour during compression failure. The observed phenomenon of high-energy particle emission, i.e., electrons and neutrons, can be explained in the framework of the superradiance applied to the solid state, where individual atoms lose their identity and become part of different plasmas, electronic and nuclear. Since the analysed material contains iron, it can be conjectured that piezonuclear reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum, or into magnesium and silicon, should have occurred during compression damage and failure. These complex phenomenologies are confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) tests conducted on Luserna stone specimens, and found additional evidences at the Earth's Crust scale, where electromagnetic and neutron emissions are observed just in correspondence with major earthquakes. In this context, the effects of piezonuclear reactions can be also considered from a geophysical and geological point of view.

Correlation of Plastic Strain Energy and Acoustic Emission Energy in Reinforced Concrete Structures

“…This satisfactory correlation is consistent with the results of other researchers [27][28][29][30]. Since in the specimens subjected to seismic loading, the forces were applied dynamically in successive seismic simulations, only macroscopic cracks were observed at the end of each one.…”

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Correlation between acoustic and other forms of energy emissions from fracture phenomena

“…As a matter of fact-based on the analogy between AE and seismic activity [30][31][32], on the anomalous radiation of geoelectromagnetic waves observed before major earthquakes [33], and on recent experimental studies that measured neutron components exceeding the usual background in correspondence to seismic activity [34]-if we take into account the correlation between acoustic/electromagnetic/NEs and seismic activity, it could be possible to set up a sort of alarm system based on a regional warning network.…”

Correlation between the Fluctuations in Worldwide Seismicity and in Atmospheric Carbon Pollution

“…Furthermore, significant neutron emissions have been measured, both at the Earth's crust scale, during earthquake preparation stages ( Figure 3) [32][33][34][35], and at the laboratory scale, during crushing tests on non-radioactive rock specimens. In the laboratory experiments, neutron and other forms of energy emissions were measured in correspondence to micro-and macro-fracturing [36][37][38][39][40], with the final considerable reduction in the Fe content consistently counterbalanced by an increase in the content of Al, Si and Mg [27][28][29]. Further evidence supporting the link between seismicity and variations in the atmospheric CO2 is the spatial organization of the CO2 release from the ground in the Himalayas, Nepal, which were apparently controlled by large earthquakes [41].…”