Researchers from the University of Oxford and University of Durham has discovered the field in the Tanzanian East African Rift Valley that could contain 54 billion cubic feet of helium in just one spot. It's a good news as world helium reserves are running low.
"This is a game changer for the future security of society's helium needs and similar finds in the future may not be far away," Chris Ballentine, a professor in the department of earth sciences at the University of Oxford, said in a press release.
The world consumes around 8 billion cubic feet of helium annually. United States Federal Helium Reserve is the biggest supplier and it's used for MRI scanners, welding and nuclear energy and more.
"Their research shows that volcanic activity provides the intense heat necessary to release the gas from ancient, helium-bearing rocks," according to a statement from the University of Oxford. "Within the Tanzanian East African Rift Valley, volcanoes have released helium from ancient deep rocks and have trapped this helium in shallower gas fields."
However, the gas traps are many times positioned too adjacent to a volcano and the helium becomes strongly diluted by other gases such as carbon dioxide.
"We are now working to identify the 'goldilocks-zone' between the ancient crust and the modern volcanoes where the balance between helium release and volcanic dilution is 'just right," said Diveena Danabalan, of Durham University's Department of Earth Sciences.
The researchers wants to keep developing methods of finding helium on success lately to avoid the shortages that have scientists, doctors and others worried about running out.
"We can apply this same strategy to other parts of the world with a similar geological history to find new helium resources," said Dr. Pete Barry, an Earth Sciences professor at the University of Oxford.
