Geologists from the University of California (USA) have concluded, after analyzing the Earth’s inner layers, that the molten core of our world has been leaking outward.
The researchers suggest that a significant drop in temperature from our planet’s liquid iron core to the outer rock mantle pushes the heavier iron isotopes to the planet’s surface, while the lighter ones remain inside the core.
The boundary between the liquid iron core and the rocky mantle lies about 2,900 km below the Earth’s surface. In that transition, the temperature falls by more than 1,000 degrees from the hottest core to the coldest mantle, explains the portal Science daily.
“The results suggest that the iron in the core has been seeping into the mantle for billions of years,” said study lead author Charles Lesher.
Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, USA May 13, 2018.
The experiments, carried out at high temperatures and pressures, could explain why there are more heavy isotopes of iron in mantle rocks than in chondrite meteorites, the primary material in the early solar system.
Lesher also highlights that the findings may help scientists better understand the physical and chemical processes that take place between the layers that make up Earth, as well as better interpret seismic images of the deep mantle.
Computer simulations by geologists show that the iron in the core can even make it to the surface. They contend that this phenomenon could explain the high levels of iron deposits found in volcanic eruptions off the coasts of Samoa and Hawaii.
The study detailing the finding has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Source: ScienceDaily
