Evidence of Planetary Collision With Ancient Earth Found In Mantle

Scientists have found evidence of material that shows Earth may have collided with another object billions of years ago. They found that an unexplained isotopic ratio from deep in the Earth's mantle may come from material that existed prior to the collision.

This led the scientists to believe that they have identified a sign that only part of the Earth melted, and that an ancient part still exists within the Earth's mantle.

The Great Impact Theory hypothesized that the Earth collided with a heavily massed object which resulted in the formation of the moon.

The object, about the same mass as Mars, collided with the Earth around 4.5 billion years ago and the resulting debris coalesced and formed the moon. This planetary object was given the name Theia.

Earthquake Lights (EQL) Associated With Rift Environments and Subvertical Faults

Earthquake lights (EQL) photographed in Tagish Lake, Yukon-Alaska border region. Lights were estimated at 1 meter in diameter with the closest orbs slowly drifting up the mountain to join the more distant ones.
Credit: Jim Conacher

A study suggests that earthquake lights (EQL) have a higher probability of occurring on or near rift environments where subvertical faults allow stress-induced electrical currents to flow rapidly to the surface.

Earthquake lights are mysterious lights that appear before or during an earthquake. They appear in different shapes and forms such as spheres of light floating through the air (as imaged on the left), high flames of light, multi-colored globes of light moving through the sky, or just streams of light running along the ground.

Earthquake lights are rarely seen after an earthquake. This suggests that the nature of these lights could be based on the stress mechanics exerted on the faults during an earthquake. Of the documented occurrences of earthquake lights, the study shows that 97% of these have been associated with rift environments.

A rift is a linear zone where the Earth's crust and the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth, called the lithosphere, are being pulled apart. This forms an extensive system of fractures and faults. Only 5% of seismic activity are associated with this type of intraplate seismic activity which also can explain the rare occurence of earthquake lights.

Using Particle Physics and Geo-Electrons To Probe The Deep Layers of The Earth

The picture depicts the long-range spin-spin interaction (blue wavy lines) in which the spin-sensitive detector on Earth’s surface interacts with geoelectrons (red dots) deep in Earth’s mantle. The arrows on the geoelectrons indicate their spin orientations, opposite that of Earth’s magnetic field lines (white arcs).
Credit: Marc Airhart (University of Texas at Austin) and Steve Jacobsen (Northwestern University).

Researchers have come up with a new technique using particle physics and geo-electrons to find out in great detail what the deep layers of the Earth is made up of and how it behaves.

Scientists for a long time have been trying to understand more about the Earth's core. The surface of the Earth is known as the crust and is around 10 kilometers thick at its thinnest. Below the crust is the mantle and between the mantle and the inner core, it is around 3,000 kilometers. It is impossible by current technologies to even drill past the crust.

In November 2011, Japanese scientist Kei Hirose, used a particle accelerator (the Spring-8 Synchrotron) to recreate the conditions believed to exist at the Earth's core. The experiment suggests that the core is made up of a forest of huge crystals 10 kilometers tall.

Other techniques used to study the Earth's inner layers are by studying the vibrations caused by earthquakes, using x-rays and other imaging techniques, or by mimicking the temperatures and pressures of the deep Earth in laboratories.

Now, researchers from Amherst College and The University of Texas at Austin have developed another technique to solve this geological mystery not by recreating the conditions but by studying electrons found in mantle minerals called geoelectrons.

Understanding Earth's Planetary Interior Through Observation of Magnesium Oxide

A team of scientists observed magnesium oxide in extreme pressures and temperatures to understand what is happening deep within the Earth's layer and found some surprising results.

The mantle of the Earth is a layer of thick rocky substance and is found between the crust of the Earth and the Outer Core. It is around 2,900 km (1,800 miles) thick and makes up about 84% of the total weight and mass of the Earth.

Temperatures in the mantle range between 500 to 900 °C (932 to 1,652 °F) at the upper boundary with the crust; to over 4,000 °C (7,230 °F) at the boundary with the core.