A Golden Core
Gold exists as a unique precious metal which people consider valuable because of its extreme scarcity yet substantial quantities exist within Earth The Earth's core contains more than 99.95% of all precious metals which remain inaccessible because they lie hundreds of miles below the planet's surface.
Hard to Dig for Gold
The Earth contains gold that exists beneath tons of solid rock which people must remove to reach it. The gold exists in two locations because it exists both above ground and inside the Earth's molten core, making it inaccessible. A breakthrough study has discovered that the gold which was previously secured has started to leak from its containment.
Leaking Gold
New research has uncovered that gold and other precious metals have begun to flow from the Earth's core into the Earth's upper layers. The gold together with other precious metals reaches the surface through volcanic activity.
The Layers of the Earth
The Earth has two distinct layers that make up its core. The first core layer contains a solid metal sphere that reaches temperatures above 759 miles (1,221 kilometers). The size of the object measures approximately 70% of the moon's diameter. The second core layer contains a liquid metal outer core that extends 1,400 miles (2,253 kilometers) into space.
The Mantle
The distance extends to 1,800 miles which equals 2,897 kilometers and reaches down to the Earth's mantle from this point. This layer exists between the Earth's outer crust and its molten core. The planet's composition consists of 84% solid rock material.
Reaching The Surface
The extreme temperatures at the core-mantle boundary create massive lava plumes. The plumes ascend through the mantle while transporting trace amounts of gold and other heavy metals.
Hawaiian Rocks
Researchers conducted a three-year investigation of Hawaii's dark basaltic rocks to find out that they serve as the fundamental materials for the island's volcanic landscape. The rock material originated when underwater magma plumes released from the ocean bottom and the rock material contained throughout its structure minute amounts of heavy metals.
A Bleeding Core
Nils Messling, who works as a geochemist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, served as the primary writer of the research paper. The results of the study confirmed to him that geologists had held a long-standing belief about Earth's molten core existing as an unbroken system.
A Disappearing Center
Messling stated that people developed the theory about core material loss to the mantle approximately 40 years ago. He explained that present evidence constitutes his most convincing proof of core material transfer from the core to the mantle.
Forming Hawaii
The study's co-author Professor Matthias Willbold declared that the research results demonstrate that large quantities of superheated mantle material which emerges from the core-mantle boundary, ascends to Earth surface, and creates ocean islands such as Hawaii.
Rarer Than Gold
To find evidence of this, the authors of the study analyzed some samples of Hawaiian volcanic rock. The results revealed the presence of ruthenium which Messling described as "one of the rarest elements on Earth."
Locating The Gold
The core of the Earth holds nearly all the gold and platinum and ruthenium present on the planet which raises questions because only a small amount exists in the mantle. The Earth began as a complete molten mass which explains the present state of the planet. The heavy elements including gold started to sink to the Earth's center during this state.
A Golden Crust
However, approximately four billion years ago, after the molten core had finished settling and the Earth's surface had completed its cooling and solidification process, a series of meteorite impacts struck the planet. The materials from these meteorites contained abundant precious metals, including gold, which subsequently integrated into both the mantle and crust of the Earth.
Billions Of Years Ago
The origin of the valuable metals found in the volcanic rock remained unknown because both the core and mantle of the Earth contained gold. Messling and his team conducted their research by comparing the samples to existing meteorite records.
The Meteorite Record
The meteorite record provides scientists with a complete collection of meteorite discoveries which scientists have documented to determine the age and origin of the meteorites. The researchers discovered an entirely new type of ruthenium isotope from their rock analysis which differed from all existing rock and meteorite samples.
Golden Evidence
The meteorite record contains material from the Earth mantle but it lacks any material from the Earth's core. The absence of ruthenium shows that the material cannot originate from the mantle and must have formed in the Earth's core.
