Magma is hot molten rock that forms beneath the earth’s surface. Its role is important in mountain formation, because magma will produce additional mass and volume. Magma is created from silicate rocks in the Earth’s mantle, continental crust, or melted ocean crust.
Helen M. Williams, a researcher from the University of Cambridge and her colleagues found remnants of earth’s magma in 3.7 billion year old rocks in Greenland. Why is this finding considered important?
1. It is believed that the earth was formed due to a collision with a planet the size of Mars
illustration of planets colliding with each other (commons.wikimedia.org/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Researchers theorize that Earth collided with Theia, a Mars-sized planet about 4.5 billion years ago. It is believed that the moon was formed from debris resulting from this collision.
Reported The Conversation, this event produced enough energy to melt the earth’s crust and almost all of the earth’s mantle, forming a sea of magma hundreds of kilometers deep. This condition lasted for 50 million years.
As the earth cooled, the magma ocean crystallized and solidified. Additionally, volcanic gases from magma play an important role in the formation and composition of the early atmosphere, which ultimately supports life.
2. The Isua rocks are proof that the earth was once a sea of magma
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Isua rock illustration (flickr.com/James St. John)
To prove this theory, Helen and her team took rock samples from the belt supracrustal Issues in southwest Greenland. This is a well-known area among geologists.
At first glance, Isua rock looks like basalt that can be found on the seabed. However, when analyzed, they found a unique iron isotope signature, indicating that the place where the rock was formed had experienced very high pressure.
The research results of Helen and her team were published in the journal Science Advances in 2021 shows traces of a sea of magma crystallizing in these rocks.
Also read: These 7 most beautiful rocks and minerals are more beautiful than diamonds
2023-12-29 01:04:00
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