Earth’s Core Is Leaking Into the Mantle - Scientists Are Worried - video Dailymotion

Bright Side

Scientists have discovered that Earth’s core is leaking into the mantle, and it’s raising some big questions. 🌍 The core, made mostly of iron and nickel, is supposed to stay locked away deep inside the planet, but tiny bits of it are escaping. 🤯 Some of this leaked material has even been found in volcanic rocks on the surface! 🌋 This means Earth's insides are slowly mixing in ways we never expected. Scientists are now wondering how much is leaking and what it could mean for our planet’s future. Could it change Earth’s magnetic field or even speed up cooling of the core? That’s what researchers are trying to figure out! 🔬  Credit: Journey to the Center of the Earth / New Line Cinema and co-producer Vulkanismus: by ZDF/Terra X/Sabine Armsen/Albrecht M.Wendlandt, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vulkanismus_in_den_Anden.webm Greenland's Geologic Past: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Scientist_Reveals_Greenland%27s_Geologic_Past.webm, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13025 MoonOrigin: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ARC-20221004-AAV3443-MoonOrigin-Social-NASAWeb-1080p_medium.oggtheora.ogg, https://images.nasa.gov/details-ARC-20221004-AAV3443-MoonOrigin-Social-NASAWeb-1080p El Viaje de Bennu: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Viaje_de_Bennu.webm, https://plus.nasa.gov/video/el-viaje-de-bennu-2/ Earth's Magnetic Dent: by NASA Goddard, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Explores_Earth%27s_Magnetic_%27Dent%27_qpdQcw_52iM.webm, NASA Goddard / YouTube CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/: Earth Core V2: by Ipay, https://skfb.ly/6USXB Riyadh's Mountain Range: by Arc4g, https://skfb.ly/6CNzs Evolution of EXP-2.: by Communications Earth & Environment, https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00470-1/figures/3 Evolution of EXP-3.: by Communications Earth & Environment, https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00470-1/figures/4 Comparison of results Arizaro Basin: by Communications Earth & Environment, https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00470-1/figures/5 Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00So, hey, take a look!

00:02This is our planet's crust, its outermost and thinnest layer.

00:05And here's the mantle, it's way thicker.

00:08And this is the core!

00:09Wait, what's happening here?

00:12Uh-oh, the core is leaking right into the mantle!

00:15Quickly, we gotta stop the leak!

00:17What do you mean it's been going on for millennia?

00:20Earth's core is actually a very intriguing thing overall.

00:24Its unique properties, ranging from housing a mysterious metal orb to being nearly as

00:29hot as the Sun's surface.

00:31Well, another one on this list of enigmas, apparently, our planet's core is leaking

00:36gas.

00:37I can relate.

00:38Is it dangerous for us?

00:39Is it going to boom if somebody lights a match?

00:42Well, not really.

00:43All because this gas is a rare isotope called Helium-3.

00:48Helium-3 is a version of Helium with one neutron instead of the usual two.

00:54Most of Helium-3 in the universe was created around the time of the Big Bang.

00:59So it's some pretty ancient stuff.

01:02As the Solar System formed, this gas became trapped deep within Earth's core.

01:06Shielded from space collisions and other cosmic hullabaloo, it remained hidden in the planet's

01:11depths for billions of years.

01:14We've known for quite some time that, occasionally, trace amounts of Helium-3 escape to the surface.

01:21But no one has known the exact mechanism behind this leakage.

01:25Until recently, the breakthrough came with the discovery of exceptionally high ratios

01:30of Helium-3 and its more common counterpart Helium-4 in ancient lava flows on Baffin Island.

01:38This island is located in Canada's remote Arctic archipelago.

01:42The craziest thing is that these findings have the highest Helium-3 ratios ever observed

01:47on dry land.

01:49The research revealed significant Helium-3 levels.

01:53It might mean that the volatile elements from the solar nebula – that's the cloud

01:57of gas and dust that gave birth to our Solar System – have remained in Earth's mantle

02:02since the earliest stages of the planet's formation.

02:05The discovery was made in lava flows that erupted around 60 million years ago, during

02:10the formation of a new seafloor when Greenland and North America split apart.

02:15But hey, it was amicable!

02:17The research team, led by Forrest Horton from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,

02:23used advanced techniques to measure the Helium trapped in olivine crystals within the rocks.

02:28These crystals formed before the magma erupted, which helped preserve the Helium as it rose

02:33from deep inside the planet.

02:35The scientists found about 10 million Helium-3 atoms per gram of olivine – that's a shockingly

02:41high concentration for Earth.

02:44You see, Earth's core acts as a reservoir for Helium-3, storing it since the planet's

02:50formation.

02:51Over time, small amounts of this gas escape into the mantle through processes like mantle

02:56convection.

02:57That's when the planet's rocky interior stirs and moves like boiling water.

03:02Magma plumes, which appear in the mantle and rise to the surface, carry Helium-3 with them.

03:08When the magma erupts, most of the Helium escapes into the atmosphere.

03:12However, some of it gets trapped in crystals within the lava.

03:16That's how scientists can later study its origin and movement.

03:20Now let's follow the journey of Helium-3 in the Baffin Island rocks.

03:25It began at least 100 million years ago.

03:28Mantle plumes carrying the Helium likely took tens of millions of years to reach the surface.

03:33It means Helium-3 has been leaking from Earth's core for millennia.

03:38It also means that our planet most likely formed in a solar nebula containing Helium-3

03:43and other noble gases.

03:46Baffin Island is an ideal location for studying Earth's deep interior.

03:50Its volcanic rocks are remnants of ancient lava flows that erupted when the North Atlantic

03:55began to open.

03:57The researchers traveled by helicopter to the remote island, which boasts towering cliffs,

04:02icebergs, and even polar bears.

04:05Several organizations helped the team access the area and ensured their safety during the

04:10expedition.

04:11The discovery of Helium-3 leaking from the core raises new questions about what other

04:16elements might be stored deep within Earth.

04:19Could it be significant amounts of other light elements, such as carbon and hydrogen?

04:25These elements are critical for life and could provide further insights into the planet's

04:30habitability and evolution.

04:32For instance, the core's lighter-than-expected density might be explained by the presence

04:37of these elements.

04:38Plus, understanding the movement of Helium-3 could also help track the behavior of other

04:43gases across the core-mantle boundary.

04:47But this isn't the only unexpected discovery about Earth's insides.

04:51Let's go to Turkey's central Anatolian plateau.

04:54There, Earth's crust seems to be slowly dripping into the planet's interior.

05:00This process, known as lithospheric dripping, is still shaping the surface geology of the

05:05region.

05:07Lithospheric dripping occurs when the lower part of Earth's crust, heated to a certain

05:11temperature, becomes viscous and begins to flow downward.

05:15Imagine a thick liquid like honey or syrup flowing into a bowl.

05:20Now you get it.

05:22Speaking of Earth, it's been happening over a long period of time, and as this material

05:27moves downward, it pulls the crust with it, causing the surface to sink.

05:32As a result, we see new depressions or basins.

05:36Once this gooey material detaches from the crust and sinks further into the mantle, the

05:42surface rebounds, causing the ground to rise.

05:45This cycle of sinking and rising is what creates the shifting landscape in regions like the

05:50Konya Basin in the central Anatolian plateau.

05:54It is the very site where geophysicists observe signs of lithospheric dripping.

06:00The research team, led by Julia Anderson from the University of Toronto, first noticed unusual

06:06patterns in satellite data, including a circular feature in the region where the ground was

06:11sinking.

06:12After examining geophysical data beneath the surface, the team identified a seismic anomaly

06:18in the upper mantle and discovered a thickened crust beneath the Konya Basin.

06:23All this points to the presence of dense material, like a result of lithospheric dripping.

06:29The team's model suggests that the Konya Basin is currently in the later stages of

06:34this process.

06:35While the surrounding central Anatolian plateau has been uplifting over the past 10 million

06:40years, the Konya Basin is sinking at a rate of about an inch per year.

06:46While this number might seem small, it is quite significant in a region that is otherwise

06:51rising.

06:52Earlier studies have shown that the central Anatolian plateau has risen for around a half

06:57mile over the last 10 million years.

07:00It likely happened due to lithospheric dripping.

07:03However, the discovery of the Konya Basin reveals that this process is not one time,

07:09but can occur multiple times in different regions.

07:12The initial drip that formed the central Anatolian plateau likely caused dodder events, which

07:18led to the formation of the Konya Basin.

07:21To validate their model, the researchers conducted a cool lab experiment.

07:25It simulated the lithospheric drip process.

07:29So they took a tank, filled with a highly viscous silicone polymer, which acted as a

07:33proxy for Earth's lower mantle.

07:36They also used a mixture of modeling clay for the upper mantle and ceramic spheres and

07:41silica sand to simulate the crust.

07:44A dense seed was inserted into the upper mantle layer to initiate the drip.

07:49Over the next few days, the researchers observed that the drip descended slowly.

07:54Within 10 hours, it began to fall.

07:57By 50 hours, a secondary drip had started.

08:01The results confirmed that, even without horizontal movement in the crust, the dripping process

08:06caused the surface to sink, forming a depression similar to the Konya Basin.

08:12This experiment has shown that lithospheric dripping can cause vertical deformations even

08:18without horizontal movements.

08:19Plus, it has proven that one event can trigger more drips that can change Earth's surface.

08:26This discovery helps scientists better understand how Earth's crust behaves over long periods

08:31of time, and how tectonic processes can affect the landscape.

08:36How about a bonus fact?

08:38In 1692, Edmund Hallett, that guy famous for Halley's Comet, suggested that Earth might

08:45be hollow.

08:47He imagined layers beneath the crust with two concentric shells and a core about the

08:52size of Mercury, all floating in glowing gas.

08:55He even went further, speculating that these inner layers could be inhabited.

09:00This wild idea inspired Jules Verne's famous novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth.

09:07Wow!

09:08That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

09:12and share it with your friends!

09:14Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

Earth’s Core Is Leaking Into the Mantle - Scientists Are Worried

Category

Transcript

Recommended