Researchers have proposed an explanation for the enigmatic, dense, continent-sized blobs of material that are buried 2,900 kilometers down in the Earth’s mantle. If this hypothesis is correct or points in the right direction, scientists may be able to answer a conundrum that has perplexed scientists for more than a decade, since this research reveals a lot about the two huge blobs buried deep inside Earth’s mantle – beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean. According to a study published on Wednesday (Nov 1) in the journal Nature, the blobs could be leftovers of a planet that collided with Earth in the early solar system and thus, the moon was formed.
When the so-called planet smacked into the Earth, it produced a shower of debris that formed the Moon
When the so-called planet smacked into the Earth, it produced a shower of debris that formed the Moon. Previous research has suggested that planet-sized object Theia crashed into Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, so the smashing of the planet into Earth is an old notion. The Moon was formed from some of the blasted material. Researchers from China, the United States, and the United Kingdom discovered evidence in a study titled “Moon-forming impactor as a source of Earth’s basal mantle anomalies” that shows parts of Theia ended up inside Earth. The researchers are Dr. Qian Yuan of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and Prof. Hongping Deng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
According to the study, seismic imaging of Earth’s subsurface revealed two continent-sized anomalies with low seismic velocities in the lowermost mantle, known as massive low-velocity provinces (LLVPs). The researchers conducted the investigation using computer simulations of the huge impact and convection currents within Earth. According to Science Alert, Hongping Deng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) stated, “Our findings challenge the traditional notion that the giant impact led to the homogenization of the early Earth.”
“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,” he said. The LLVPs are frequently viewed as “intrinsically dense heterogeneities” that are “compositionally distinct from the surrounding mantle,” according to the study. The researchers demonstrated that LLVPs could be buried relics of Theia mantle material that was stored in the proto-Earth’s mantle after the moon-forming massive impact.