NEW DELHI: Geologists from MIT and Oxford College have made a big discovery in Greenland, unearthing historical rocks that maintain clues to Earth’s earliest magnetic area.
These rocks, well-preserved, supply insights into situations on Earth billions of years in the past. Researchers decided them to be roughly 3.7 billion years previous, exhibiting remnants of a magnetic area with a energy of not less than 15 microtesla, similar to at this time’s magnetic area.
Printed within the Journal of Geophysical Analysis, the findings mark a few of the earliest proof of Earth’s magnetic area, doubtlessly pushing again its age by tons of of hundreds of thousands of years. Understanding the planet’s magnetic historical past may present essential insights into its early surroundings and the emergence of life.
Claire Nichols, an affiliate professor at Oxford College, highlighted the importance of Earth’s magnetic area for its habitability. “It’s thought our magnetic area protects us from dangerous radiation from house, and in addition helps us to have oceans and atmospheres that may be steady for lengthy durations of time”, Nichols stated.
Whereas earlier research urged a magnetic area courting again 3.5 billion years, this analysis extends its lifespan by a further 200 million years. Regardless of present process two subsequent thermal occasions, the rocks retained their historical magnetic signatures. This implies that even excessive occasions, similar to tectonic shifts or hydrothermal exercise, could not fully erase the rocks’ magnetic historical past.
The experiment additionally indicated that the rocks maintained their magnetic properties by way of vital geological occasions. Round 3.7 billion years in the past, the iron within the samples possible crystallized throughout an preliminary thermal occasion. Subsequent reheating occasions, roughly 2.8 billion years in the past and 1.5 billion years in the past, didn’t erase the rocks’ magnetization fully.
This discovery opened new avenues for understanding Earth’s historical magnetic area and its function in shaping the planet’s early surroundings.
These rocks, well-preserved, supply insights into situations on Earth billions of years in the past. Researchers decided them to be roughly 3.7 billion years previous, exhibiting remnants of a magnetic area with a energy of not less than 15 microtesla, similar to at this time’s magnetic area.
Printed within the Journal of Geophysical Analysis, the findings mark a few of the earliest proof of Earth’s magnetic area, doubtlessly pushing again its age by tons of of hundreds of thousands of years. Understanding the planet’s magnetic historical past may present essential insights into its early surroundings and the emergence of life.
Claire Nichols, an affiliate professor at Oxford College, highlighted the importance of Earth’s magnetic area for its habitability. “It’s thought our magnetic area protects us from dangerous radiation from house, and in addition helps us to have oceans and atmospheres that may be steady for lengthy durations of time”, Nichols stated.
Whereas earlier research urged a magnetic area courting again 3.5 billion years, this analysis extends its lifespan by a further 200 million years. Regardless of present process two subsequent thermal occasions, the rocks retained their historical magnetic signatures. This implies that even excessive occasions, similar to tectonic shifts or hydrothermal exercise, could not fully erase the rocks’ magnetic historical past.
The experiment additionally indicated that the rocks maintained their magnetic properties by way of vital geological occasions. Round 3.7 billion years in the past, the iron within the samples possible crystallized throughout an preliminary thermal occasion. Subsequent reheating occasions, roughly 2.8 billion years in the past and 1.5 billion years in the past, didn’t erase the rocks’ magnetization fully.
This discovery opened new avenues for understanding Earth’s historical magnetic area and its function in shaping the planet’s early surroundings.
