MIT reseachers dicover remnants of “proto Earth”
(MENAFN) Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), together with international partners, have uncovered rare traces of “proto Earth,” the planet’s ancient precursor dating back 4.5 billion years. These remnants provide a unique glimpse into the material that existed before the colossal impact that shaped the Earth as we know it today.
“This is maybe the first direct evidence that we've preserved the proto Earth materials,” said Nicole Nie, the Paul M. Cook career development assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at MIT.
“We see a piece of the very ancient Earth, even before the giant impact. This is amazing because we would expect this very early signature to be slowly erased through Earth's evolution,” Nie added.
The team detected an unusual chemical signature in deep rock samples from Greenland, Canada, and Hawaii, revealing a deficit in the potassium-40 isotope compared to most contemporary Earth materials. This anomaly suggests that these rocks may harbor tiny portions of proto Earth, having survived billions of years of geological upheaval.
Scientists have long sought to reconstruct the original chemical composition of the planet by analyzing various meteorite groups. “But our study shows that the current meteorite inventory is not complete, and there is much more to learn about where our planet came from,” Nie explained.
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