The terrestrial nucleus would release material containing precious metals including goldwhich can go up to the surface and escape with volcanic eruptions. This is what emerged from the study published in the magazine Nature by a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen, Germany, which can represent a huge step forward in understanding the internal dynamics of the Earth. For a long time it has been thought that the nucleus was isolated from the above cloak, while this research reveals that can exchange materials with it. The discovery was made thanks to the analysis of volcanic rocks find at Hawaiiand in particular of the Isotopes of Rutenio (a rare metal) they contain.
The discovery of the loss of gold from the nucleus of the earth and the ascent of precious metals
It is estimated that More than 99.999% of the earth’s terrestrial reserves and other precious metals are 3000 km deep inside our planet, in terrestrial nucleus. For this reason, it is logical to think that these materials are not available for man. However, the researchers have discovered that a part of them can go up until they reach the earth’s surface through volcanic eruptions. This conclusion was taken by analyzing the Vulcanic rocks of the Hawaii islandswho formed on a hot point (Hot spot), where columns of magma date back from the deep cloak originating volcanoes.
The researchers found in these rocks Isotopes of Rutenioa rare metal similar to platinum in abundance in the terrestrial nucleus. To identify it, the use of advanced technologies that can find even very small traces was necessary, which has so far not been possible to identify. In particular, they were measure the relative quantities of the different isotopes (100Ru, 101Ru and 102Ru) and it turned out that the most abundant is the 100Ru. The presence of a greater amount of 100Ru isotope characterizes the nucleus And it differentiates the latter from the cloak. Consequently, it can be said that the Hawaii rocks have formed starting from a magma from the border between nucleus and cloak. Here the magma column would originate that feeds the hot point.
The meaning of the discovery on gold in the terrestrial nucleus
Nils Messlingof the Geochimica Department of the University of Göttingen, commented:
When the first results arrived, we realized that we had literally found gold! Our data have confirmed that the material of the nucleus, including gold and other precious metals, is coming out in the terrestrial cloak.
Now it is possible to say that huge volumes of materialequal to several hundred quadrilion of rock tons, they originate on the border between nucleus and cloak And they go back to the surface to form archipelagos like Hawaii. Some of the gold deposits and other precious metals exploited by man may therefore come from the terrestrial nucleus.
The discovery is very important also because traditionally it was thought that the nucleus was isolated from the cloak, that is, that its material did not move to the overlying layer. The tests obtained by the researchers are significant, even if they are Further insights neededto be carried out in correspondence with other hot points such as that of Hawaii, as underlined by Nils Messling:
Our results open a completely new perspective on the evolution of the internal dynamics of our Christmas planet. It remains to be demonstrated whether these processes we observe today have also operated in the past
