A Mars-size object called Theia smashed into Earth, and the debris coalesced into the moon. Now scientists believe they may have identified pieces of Theia at the bottom of Earth’s mantle.
A new study suggests that portions of the moon-forming impactor Theia survived throughout Earth's history deep in our planet's mantle. Some 4.5 billion years ago, the solar system was a giant game of cosmic pinball. During those early ages, a planetary body the size of Mars slammed into the still-forming Earth.
Such studies over the past few decades have shown two enormous blobs in the lower portions of the mantle—one under South Africa and another under the Pacific Ocean—that differ in density and composition from the surrounding material. Seismic waves slow when they pass through these blobs, and so geoscientists have dubbed them: large low-shear-velocity provinces .
Some researchers aren’t convinced. “In our simulations, the mantle of Theia and Earth’s mantle tend to be well-mixed,” says planetary scientistof the University of Rochester in New York. Her research over the past several years has focused on how layers evolve within the solar system’s rocky planets.
But gathering new material to study is easier said than done. Geoscientists can’t drill deep enough into Earth to directly sample the blobs. Although, Yuan says, rock from the deep interior sometimes reaches the surface, such as Ocean Island Basalts.
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