Earth's core may have been leaking hydrogen for billions of years
When Earth formed billions of years ago, its metallic core was wrapped in a global ocean of molten rock, which eventually cooled and crystallized to form the mantle. Today, when deep-rooted mantle plumes rise toward the surface and produce volcanic eruptions, the resulting lava can contain hydrogen from deep inside the planet.
A recent study published in Science Advances suggests that Earth's core may have been leaking hydrogen for billions of years. The research, led by Wenzhong Wang at the University of Science and Technology of China, used computer simulations to examine how hydrogen behaved as molten rock cooled and crystallized into different minerals.
The study found that as ancient magma cooled and crystallized, the two forms of hydrogen (light hydrogen and heavy deuterium) were distributed relatively evenly through the Earth's mantle, without producing substantial hydrogen isotope fractionation. This contradicts the idea that the freezing of the magma ocean could explain the unusual low levels of deuterium found in volcanic rocks from certain regions.
The researchers argue that the more likely explanation is that hydrogen with a low proportion of deuterium has been leaking from Earth's metallic core into the surrounding mantle over billions of years. This finding is supported by the presence of unusually high ratios of helium-3 to helium-4 in some volcanic rocks, which may have been preserved in Earth's core for billions of years.
However, the exact mechanisms by which core signatures are transferred into the mantle remain unclear and require further investigation.
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