Researchers at the University of Arizona have concluded that debris from planet Theia could sink deep into Earth’s mantle based on a new model.
Two massive, solid rock formations hidden deep in the lowest layer of the Earth’s mantle are known as Low Slippery Mass Provinces (LLSVP), one below Africa and the other below the Pacific. They are so large that they cause a disturbance that weakens the Earth’s magnetic field, known as the South Atlantic Anomaly. Researchers have put forward many theories about the process of LLSVP formation, but have not found exact evidence. Many researchers believe that it could be ancient traces of a collision between Earth and a planet called Theia.
According to popular theory, the planet Theia, the size of Mars, crashed into early Earth 4.5 billion years ago, during which large debris from Theia and possibly Earth entire separated, becoming the Moon rotating around the Earth today. However, researchers do not know what happened to Theia’s remains. Will it be destroyed or will it drift in space? Some experts believe that the nuclei of the two primordial planets could merge into one. The chemical exchange of fusion could have facilitated the formation of life.
According to a new model from researchers at the University of Arizona (ASU), the LLSVP could be an ancient fragment of the extremely dense and iron-rich mantle of the planet Theia, which sank deep into the Earth’s mantle when the two planets have moved. collided and was buried for billions of years.
“The giant collision hypothesis is one of the most tested models of the formation of the Moon, but no one has yet found direct evidence for the existence of the collision of the planet Theia,” said the team led by Qian Yuan, a doctoral student specializing in coating dynamics at ASU. “We demonstrate that Theia’s mantle can be several percent denser than Earth’s, allowing matter to sink into the lower layers of the Earth’s mantle, accumulating as thermochemical masses and generating LLSVP “.
While speculation that LLSVP could be a fragment of Theia has been around for many years, the new study is the most comprehensive model yet. The results of the study will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. In addition to the mantle pattern, the results are also consistent with previous studies, showing that the chemical traces associated with LLSVP are as old as the collision with the planet Theia.
