A team of international researchers has made a groundbreaking discovery about the flow of metals within our planet. They found that metals are leaking from Earth’s core into the mantle, before being erupted at the surface. The study’s lead author, geochemist Nils Messling, says their data confirmed that material from the core, including gold and precious metals like ruthenium, is leaking into the mantle.
The researchers believe more than 99.999 percent of Earth’s total reserves of gold and other precious metals lie within the planet’s metallic core, buried beneath 1,864 miles of rock. They found a specific ruthenium isotope, 100Ru, in the Hawaiian lavas that must have come from the core. This discovery shows that Earth’s core is not as isolated as previously thought.
The team developed new methods at Göttingen University, which revealed unusually high 100Ru signals in the Hawaiian lavas. According to co-author professor Matthias Willbold, their findings show that huge volumes of superheated mantle material originate at the core-mantle boundary and rise to Earth’s surface to form ocean islands like Hawaii.
The researchers’ discovery opens up a new perspective on the evolution of our planet’s inner dynamics. It also raises questions about whether these processes have been operating in the past.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/gold-ruthenium-precious-metal-volcano-hawaii-core-geochemistry-2077411