Experts from the Australian Curtin University have discovered evidence that the continents on the planet were formed as a result of the collision of giant meteorites.
He states that such hypotheses and speculations have been around for decades, but their proponents had little evidence to support them.
“During our study of small zircon crystals in crustal rocks in Belbar, Western Australia, which are considered the best remnants of the ancient crust of the Earth, we found evidence of giant meteorites colliding with the planet,” said Dr. Tim Johnson from the university.
He adds, our study of the structure of oxygen isotopes in zircon crystals revealed the existence of a “descending” process that started from the melting of rocks near the surface and their transition to deeper rocks, and this matches the geological effect of the collision of celestial bodies with the Earth.
This process began during the first billion years of the emergence of the planet (the age of the Earth is estimated at 4.5 billion years), and the size of the meteorites that collided with the Earth is similar to the meteorite that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
According to Dr. Johnson, understanding the continuous evolution and evolution of the Earth’s continents is of great and crucial importance, because land contains most of the biological mass, and almost all the ores on the planet, including the minerals lithium, tin and nickel. These elements are essential for the production of environmentally friendly technologies.
The deposits of ores became the end result of a process called ‘Crustal differentiation’, which began with the formation of early land masses, he adds. Presumably, this information also applies to other ancient continental crust regions on the planet.
