Geomechanical and geochemical evidence of piezonuclear fission reactions in the Earth’s crust

Piezonuclear reactions, which occur in inert and non-radioactive elements, are induced by high pressure and, in particular, by brittle fracture phenomena in solids under compression. These low-energy reactions generally take place in nuclei with an atomic weight that is lower or equal to that of iron (Fe). The experimental evidence, obtained from repeatable measurements of neutron emissions [Strain 45, 2009, 332; Strain (in press); Phys. Lett. A. 373, 2009, 4158], can be also recognised considering the anomalous chemical balances of the major events that have affected the Earth’s crust, oceans and atmosphere, over the last 4 billion years. These anomalies include (i) abrupt variations in the most abundant elements in correspondence with the formation of tectonic plates; (ii) the ‘Great Oxidation Event’ (2.7–2.4 billion years ago), with a sharp increase in atmospheric oxygen and the subsequent origin of life; (iii) the current climate acceleration partially because of ‘carbon pollution’. Natural piezonuclear reactions are induced by fault sliding and plate subduction phenomena.