Published in Nature Communications · View the paper (DOI)
A team of researchers has found that the Earth's iron composition is not linked to its core formation, sparking alternative theories on why our planet has higher levels of heavy iron isotopes. The study suggests light iron isotopes may have been vaporized into space or incorporated into rock through slow mantle churning.
Coverage from 2 institutions
- Experiments call origin of Earth's iron into question University of Texas at Austin · Feb 20, 2017 · first to report
- Research proposes new theories about nature of Earth's iron University of Chicago · Mar 17, 2017