New theory suggests that large lumps of material in Earth’s clothing are remnants of Theop protoplanet

A team of scientists at Arizona State University has suggested that the large blobs of material in the Earth’s crust (the large-scale high-velocity continents, LLSVP) could be left over pieces of Theia, a protoplanet theory that hit the Earth, and as a result the moon was formed. The group argued their case at this year’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and are awaiting publication in Geophysical Research Letters.

Most space scientists have come to believe that the moon was formed when another planet (now called Theia) collided with Earth very early – parts of Earth, Theia or both who entered space at the time of the last crash entering the moon. Theories about what happened to the rest of Theia are still debated. In this new endeavor, the team in Arizona suggests that much of Theia’s mantle wakes up in the Earth’s costume, creating what are now known as the fast-moving continents, LLSVPs – one under parts of the African continent and one under the Pacific Ocean. .

Scientists have been studying the LLSVPs for several years – their viability has been determined by studying seismic readings around the globe. As seismic waves run into the LLSVPs, they become slower, suggesting that the material from which they are made is denser than the rest of the mantle. The LLSVPs are very large and lie on the edge of the outer core. The team at ASU notes that if Theia’s costume were denser than Earth’s clothing, none of it that would make her way to the healthy would work her way to the heart.

To support their ideas, the team at ASU built a model showing the Earth as it was about 4.5 billion years ago and then showing what could have happened in the event of an accident with a planet the size of Mars, or even larger. The model also assumed that the mantle on the Theia theoretical planet was full of iron, leaving it very dense. In their model, Theia goes up largely destroyed, with pieces moved into space to form the moon, and much of her fitness breaks into fragments, which she do all the way into the Earth’s mantle. Over billions of years, the cookies converge, forming the LLSVPs.

The researchers note that the idea of ​​Theian fragments that make up the LLSVP has been previously expressed by others in the field, but they suggest that their work is the object. most complete to date.

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