Earth's Core Leaking Gold Through Volcanic Pathways, Study Finds

Karmactive Staff

Scientists from the University of  Göttingen in Germany have discovered that the Earth’s core is leaking and depositing metals like gold, ruthenium.

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The study which was published in the journal Nature highlights the unusual presence of a specific type of ruthenium - a transition metal - in volcanic rocks.

Photo Source: Tomáš Malík (Pexels)

The study also challenges the long held notion of Earth’s core being sealed off from the rest of the planet.

Photo Source: Argonne National Laboratory (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Nils Messling, a geochemist from the University of Göttingen was ecstatic when the results came back and declared that they have struck gold.

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About 99.9% of gold is deposited in the Earth’s core because during Earth’s formation, heavy metals like gold, platinum sank down.

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The formation of ocean islands like Hawaii due to deposition of huge volumes of superheated mantle material on the surface can be explained now.

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The study points out that this process of leaking is extremely slow and completes over a period of 500 million to 1 billion years.

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The findings suggest that some of the gold or platinum that we find in our smartphones, jewelry, and other equipment may have come from Earth’ core.

Photo Source: Klaus Schäfer (CC BY 4.0)

The study is a significant discovery in permeability between Earth’s core and mantle highlights Jesse Reimnik, an associate professor at Penn State.

Photo Source: Robert Lens (Pexels)

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