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铁杆木虫 (著名写手)

[交流] 【Nature】天上掉下来的金子 已有1人参与

人们在浅层地表已经开采出大量黄金和其他贵金属,而根据地球形成的相关理论,地表的贵金属早已被带进地核。为解释地表大量贵金属的来源,有人提出了“天上掉下来的”观点,即它们随陨石落到地面。英国的一项最新研究为这种观点提供了新证据。

根据现有理论,在地球形成初期,融化状态的铁逐渐向球心位置下沉,由此形成地核。在这个过程中,绝大多数的贵金属,如金和铂,也都被带入地核,地表中的贵金属含量应该极其稀少,远低于今天开采出的数量。

为了解释这个现象,有研究人员猜测,地球形成后不久,曾有一场大规模的陨石“轰炸”袭击地球,并为地球带来了大量的贵金属,在地表形成了一个含有贵金属的地质薄层,这个薄层随着地质活动逐渐成为贵金属矿藏。目前,地球形成初期存在一场大规模陨石“轰炸”的说法已经基本得到学术界的认可。然而,那场“轰炸”真的强大到足以改变地表岩石的构成吗?

英国布里斯托尔大学等机构的研究人员在最新一期《自然》杂志上报告说,他们对来自格陵兰岛的古老岩石进行了分析,结果支持“天上掉金子”的观点。他们采样的岩石距今约40亿年,正好处在地核形成后和陨石“轰炸”前这段时期。

研究人员分析了这些岩石中钨同位素的特点。然后,研究人员又分析了陨石“轰炸”后的岩石样本,将前后两种岩石进行对比。他们得出的结论是,陨石“轰炸”的确改变了地表岩石的金属构成。

据估计,要产生目前地表所发现的贵金属数量,那时“轰炸”地球的陨石质量可能达到2000亿亿吨。(来源:新华网 黄堃)
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2s3p

木虫 (正式写手)


小木虫(金币+0.5):给个红包,谢谢回帖
补充个英文介绍链接,还有音频,可以放在mp3里听
http://www.scientificamerican.co ... hs-mineabl-11-09-08

Thar’s gold in them thar hills—and we may have meteorites to thank. Because it appears that a rain of meteors nearly 4 billion years ago peppered the Earth’s exterior with precious metals. So says a study in the journal Nature. [Matthias Willbold, Tim Elliott and Stephen Moorbath, "The tungsten isotopic composition of the Earth’s mantle before the terminal bombardment"]

When Earth was forming, molten iron sank to its center, creating the planet’s core. That iron carried with it a slew of iron-loving metals, including gold and platinum. In fact, the Earth’s core is packed with enough precious metals to cover the entire planet four meters deep.

But not all that glitters is down at the planet’s center. Today there’s enough gold in the Earth’s rocky shell to please prospectors—and to puzzle planetary scientists: why is that gold not down in the core, too?

The answer, it seems, is that it wasn’t even on the Earth until after the core formed. Isotope concentrations in rock samples of different ages indicate that the composition of the Earth’s mantle changed after the planet was blasted with meteors 3.9 billion years ago. That bombardment coated our home with a thin veneer of riches. Which means that the gold in them thar hills is older than the hills.
没啥好说的,埋头往前走吧!
2楼2011-09-11 16:46:48
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imrsfb

铁杆木虫 (著名写手)

引用回帖:
2楼: Originally posted by 2s3p at 2011-09-11 16:46:48:
补充个英文介绍链接,还有音频,可以放在mp3里听
http://www.scientificamerican.co ... hs-mineabl-11-09-08

Thar’s gold in them thar hills— ...

呵呵,挺有意思啊
3楼2011-09-11 19:29:22
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