• Accepted Paper

Mountain muography for the China Jinping Underground Laboratory

Xinshun Zhang et al.

Phys. Rev. D - Accepted 26 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4653-p76n

Abstract

The China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL), located ∼2,400~m beneath Jinping Mountain, is one of the world’s deepest and largest (∼300,000m3) underground facilities, hosting dark matter, nuclear astrophysics, and neutrino experiments. We report the first muon radiography (muography) conducted at this extraordinary depth. Cosmic muons detected by a one-ton prototype developed for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment were used to perform non-invasive subsurface density mapping over a 3~km lateral range. The 1.3~m diameter detector provides nearly isotropic acceptance and an angular resolution of ∼4.5∘. By correlating the predicted surface muon flux distributions with the underground measurements, we reconstruct a directional opacity map that constrains the density structure of the overburden and shows excellent agreement with satellite-derived terrain models. This work demonstrates the feasibility of muography at extreme depths with kilometer-scale overburden and establishes a robust methodology for future geophysical applications and large-scale facilities, such as the full Jinping Neutrino Experiment. Based on this validated overburden model, we further predict the total muon fluxes for the eight experimental halls in CJPL-II, providing essential input for their physics programs.

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