Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2014

Convener:*Hiroyuki Tanaka(Earthquake Research Institute, the University of Tokyo), Hiroko Watanabe(RCNS,Tohoku-U), Cristiano Bozza(U-Salerno), Dominique Gibert(IPGParis), William McDonough(U-Maryland), John Learned(U-Hawaii), Chair:John Learned(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii)

The great success in the imaging of volcanoes with elementary particles called muons (muography) as well as in the detection of neutrinos generated inside the earth (geo-neutrinos) has resulted in observation opportunities completely independent from the capabilities of conventional geophysical methods. By facilitating the future goals and concerns of the geophysical community, ideally shared among the muography observation group, geo-neutrino observation group, and earth scientists through international and interdisciplinary interactions, the aim is to strengthen the evolution of particle geophysics. Various muographical projects have been promoted worldwide, and each international group has been producing valuable results. Concerning geo-neutrino detection, the quantity of radioactive materials generating heat inside the Earth will be recognized via the frequency of geo-neutrino counts. Since this radioactive heat generation reflects the geodynamics and the chemical composition of the building blocks of our planet, improvements to measurement accuracy will likely yield useful geo-scientific information in the near future. With active cooperation between international communities, we aspire to expand the frontiers of earth observation techniques.