The remains of an ancient planet may be “buried” in the Earth – scientists
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Scientists have discovered new evidence that Earth may contain debris from the ancient planet Theia, writes The Guardian.
According to the scientists’ theory, 4.5 billion years ago, the Mars-sized protoplanet Thea hit the Earth with such force that its debris formed the Moon. At that time, our home planet was still a “baby” and was only 85 percent of its current size. So, according to scientists, pieces of Theia may still be in the mantle of our planet.
The collision sent chunks of the planets flying into space, and eventually this mixture of gas and molten rock formed the Moon.
Now scientists have found a new confirmation of the “giant collision” theory. Deep in the lower solid mantle of the Earth, under Africa and the Pacific Ocean, two formations the size of a continent were discovered. Scientists call these large low shear velocity regions (LLVPs). They are denser than other parts of the Earth’s mantle.
| Illustration: The Guardian |
An article in the journal Nature claims that these regions may actually be chunks of Theia “buried” deep within the Earth. A team led by Dr. Qian Yuan of the Caltech Institute conducted computer simulations that showed that if the Earth and Thea had indeed collided, pieces of Thea would have sunk deep into the Earth’s mantle and formed the LLVPs that modern scientists have discovered.
“I look forward to future missions to the Moon. If the rocks of the lunar mantle and LLVP have the same chemical signature, then they are indeed from Theia.”said Yuan.
Professor Alex Halliday of the University of Oxford praised the paper in Nature, but stressed that the idea still needed work.
Read also: “Astronomers discovered a planet that may be suitable for life”
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