
Earth Core May Be Leaking Gold: Hawaiian Volcano Rocks Reveal Hidden Connection
A new scientific breakthrough suggests Earth’s molten core may be releasing precious metals like gold into the planet’s surface, and the evidence has been found in volcanic rocks from Hawaii.
In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers from the University of Göttingen in Germany used advanced isotopic analysis to investigate volcanic rocks from Hawaii. These rocks, formed by magma plumes rising from deep inside the Earth, contain unusually high levels of a rare form of ruthenium, a metal more common in the planet’s core than its upper layers.
The discovery challenges long-standing assumptions that the Earth’s core is completely sealed off from the rest of the planet. Since the formation of Earth 4.5 billion years ago, scientists believed that over 99.99% of the planet’s g...