2023-11-03 10:41:00
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The idea that our planet contains remains of another world is not new, but it has recently gained traction thanks to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature.
The Chinese geologist Qian Yuan and an international team of researchers present a hypothesis that suggests that two gigantic masses, located under West Africa and the Pacific Ocean at a depth of approximately 2,900 kilometerscould be fragments of a primitive celestial body.
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According to seismic observations, the waves produced by earthquakes slow down as they pass through these masses. This suggests that the material is denser than the rest of the Earth’s mantle and raises the possibility that it may be the remains of a planet, known as Tea or Theia, which collided with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. This collision would have generated the formation of the Moon, according to the most accepted theory.
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To support their argument, the researchers compare the composition of the Earth’s mantle with that of the Moon. It is estimated that 8% of the Earth’s mantle is composed of iron oxides, while the Moon presents 10%. According to the team’s calculations, Tea’s mantle must also have been richer in iron, which would have made it denser and caused it to sink towards the deepest regions of the Earth’s mantle, where these anomalous seismic zones are now detected.
Challenging the homogeneity of the Earth’s mantle
Beyond the fascinating idea that fragments of an ancient planet could be embedded in the Earth’s mantle, the findings by Qian Yuan’s team also raise serious questions about conventional theories of geology. According to Chinese professor Hongping Deng, from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and co-author of the study, these discoveries “challenge the traditional idea that the large impact caused the homogenization of the early Earth”.
The idea that a massive impact could have created a homogeneous Earth has been one of the most widely accepted theories. However, the new study suggests that the heterogeneity of the Earth’s mantle is a “natural consequence” of the large impact that formed the Moon. This would be a paradigm shift that would force us to reevaluate many existing notions about geology and plate tectonics.
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Likewise, the possibility has been raised that these high-density areas in the mantle are not a unique case, but rather part of a broader trend. Seismologist Jenny Jenkins of Durham University has pointed to the existence of more pockets of dense materials deep in the mantle, suggesting they could be remains of other celestial bodies that collided with Earth in their early stages.
Implications for the exploration of the Solar System
This study also raises the possibility that chemical clues could be found in volcanic rocks, such as those in Iceland and Hawaii, that shed more light on the collision that gave rise to the Moon. These traces could, in some way, having emerged to the earth’s surface in later geological eventswhich in turn could have implications for mining and the search for natural resources.
Furthermore, if we accept the idea that Earth and other celestial bodies could be composed of fragments of older planets, this would have implications for how we understand the formation and evolution of planets. It could influence how future space exploration missions are designed, as we would look for different types of signals and compounds on planets and moons, both in our solar system and on exoplanets.
These findings also raise new questions for astrobiology. If bodies like Earth can take in material from other planets, what does this mean for the transfer of possible biomolecules or even primitive life forms? Although this enters the realm of speculation, it is not entirely unreasonable to consider that the collision of planets could play a role in the spread of life through the Solar System or beyond.
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