Gold - An Alien Metal?

Posted in: Feature

It may be hard to believe, but it is now generally accepted among earth scientists that the abundance of gold on earth is due to it arriving from outer space by way of meteorites.

Although there is only 1.3 grams of gold per 1,000 tonnes of other material in the Earth’s crust, it is still too much to fit with the standard models of the formation of the earth. Scientists say that during the earths formation, all gold that was already on earth sank to the core along with iron.

Gold is now found in the earth’s crust due to a meteoric shower that struck the earth around 4 billion years ago, and these meteors containing gold injected it into the earth’s crust and eventually the mantle.

This meteoric shower originated from an asteroid belt between Earth and Mars, and also created the craters that now exist on the moon. These meteorites are also thought to have delivered carbon, nitrogen, water and amino acids to earth.

So, next time you are marveling at the geological miracle of your diamond, you can also appreciate the journey that the gold in your ring has taken, billions of years in the making!