Most of Theia was absorbed into Earth, forming these blobs, while residual debris formed the moon.
The collision of Theia with Earth is believed to have resulted in a shower of debris that eventually formed the moon.
Two continent-sized blobs of dense material, known as large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), located deep within the Earth's mantle, could be remnants of an ancient Mars-sized planet, Theia.
Researchers have proposed a new theory suggesting that two continent-sized blobs of dense material, known as large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), located deep within the Earth's mantle, could be remnants of an ancient Mars-sized planet, Theia, that collided with Earth billions of years ago. This collision is believed to have resulted in a shower of debris that eventually formed the moon.
The team, including Dr. Qian Yuan from the California Institute of Technology and Prof. Hongping Deng from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, used computer simulations to explore this event. Their simulations suggest that the collision caused the upper portion of Earth's mantle to melt, allowing around 10% of the colliding planet's material to penetrate Earth and gradually sink toward its core.
Seismologists have identified these LLVPs in the deepest part of Earth's mantle, one under Africa and the other under the South Pacific region. These blobs are denser than the surrounding material, causing seismic waves to travel abnormally slowly through them. Based on these simulations, the researchers proposed that most of Theia was absorbed into Earth, forming these blobs, while residual debris formed the moon.
The study was published in the journal Nature on November 1. However, it's important to note that this theory is still a hypothesis and further research is needed to confirm these findings.
The team, including Dr. Qian Yuan from the California Institute of Technology and Prof. Hongping Deng from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, used computer simulations to explore this event.
Their simulations suggest that the collision caused the upper portion of Earth's mantle to melt, allowing around 10% of the colliding planet's material to penetrate Earth and gradually sink toward its core.
Seismologists have identified two continent-sized blobs in the deepest part of Earth's mantle, one under Africa and the other under the South Pacific region.
Based on these simulations, they proposed that most of Theia was absorbed into Earth, forming the blobs, while residual debris formed the moon.
Geophysicists have discovered continent-sized zones of rock at the base of Earth's mantle where seismic waves travel abnormally slowly, suggesting the rock there is denser than the rest of the mantle rock.
The simulations suggest that a large part of Theia's core was left on our planet and that a large volume of Theia's mantle was embedded in the uppermost 1,400 kilometers or so of Earth's mantle.
A study led by Caltech researchers suggests that two continent-sized blobs of unusual material found deep near the center of the Earth are remnants of an ancient planet that collided with Earth billions of years ago.
The study was published in the journal Nature on November 1.