Scientists Discover Remnants Of The Planet That Collided with Earth Which Formed The Moon Still Buried In Our Core

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In a groundbreaking study, scientists have revisted the hypothesis surrounding the formation of the Moon and its connection to a proto-planet called Theia.

While prior theories focused on Theia’s collision with Earth, ejecting debris to create the Moon, a new international, interdisciplinary research effort reveals that Theia’s influence on the solar system may persist.

The study, published in the journal Nature, introduces the concept of Large Low-Velocity Provinces (LLVP)deep within the Earth’s mantle, potentially remnants of Theia.

The recently published study in the journal Nature provides significant novel insights, delving not just into the Earth’s internal structure but also shedding light on its long-term evolution and the formation of the inner solar system.

The prevailing theory of the Moon’s formation posited a giant impact around 4.5 billion years ago, with Earth colliding with Theia to create the moon from the resulting debris.


Simulations suggest that the Moon probably acquired its material predominantly from Theia, while Earth, owing to its larger size, experienced only minor blending with Theian material.

Previous theories, based on the relative independence of Eearth and Theia formations consisting of distinct materials, proposed that the Moon, dominated by Theian material, and the Earth, dominated by Earthly material, should exhibit distinct compositions.

However, high-precision isotope measuremnets challenging this theory emerged, showing remarkable similarities in the compositions of Earth and the Moon.

Professor Hongping Deng of the Shanghai Astronomical Obesrvatory (SHAO) delved into this mystery, uncovering a layered mantle structure with the upper mantle featuring a mixture of Earth and Theian material.

Collaborating with geophysicists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Deng proposed that this mantle layering might persist to this day around 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) beneath the Earth’s surface.

“Our findings challenge the traditional notion that the giant impact led to the homogenization of the early Earth,” Deng said. “Instead, the Moon-forming giant impact appears to be the origin of the early mantle’s heterogeneity and marks the starting point for the Earth’s geological evolution over the course of 4.5 billion years.”

The LLVPs, anomalies in the mantle, were indentified beneath the African and Pacific tectonic plates, significantly affecting seismic wave velocity.


Previous research highlighted the importance of LLVPs in mantle evolution, supercontinent dynamics, and tectonic plate structures.

Dr. Qian Yuan from the California Institute of Technology suggested that LLVPs could have evolved from a small amont of Theian material entering the Earth’s lower mantle.

“Through precise analysis of a wider range of rock samples, combined with more refined giant impact models and Earth evolution models, we can infer the material composition and orbital dynamics of the primordial Earth and Theia. This allows us to constrain the entire history of the formation of the inner solar system,” said Dr. Yuan.

Through extensive analysis, the research team estimated that approximately 2% of denser, iron-rich Theian material sank to the bottom of the mantle. And throughout 4.5 billion years, this material formed stable LLVP regions, contributing to the Earth’s deep mantle diversity.

The findings challenge the notion of a uniform Earth interior, emphasizing the ongoing influence of Earth-Theia diversity in the deep mantle.

Evidence, such as isotope ratios in Icelandic basalt samples, indicates that remnants of this diversity continue to shape Earth’s geological evolution.

 

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