There are ruins of another world on our planet. No, we’re not selling conspiracy theories about a hollow Earth. We are talking about the remains of Theia, the Mars-sized object that crashed into our planet billions of years ago and led to the formation of the Moon. Its remains were simply merged with our planet, but not completely. This is a bold idea that has gained increasing evidence in recent years.

The collision between Earth and Theia may have literally left a huge scar on our planet. Deep in the mantle, two unique structures surround the Earth’s core. These are known as large low velocity zones (LLVP). These anomalous formations are located beneath the African tectonic plate and the Pacific tectonic plate. It is thought that they sank because they were denser than the surrounding mantle material.

Their density depends on the chemical composition. Researchers used seismic waves as a sonogram of the Earth’s interior and discovered these denser regions. They believe they have more iron than the rest of the mantle, and that’s where the connection comes from. Caltech’s Dr. While Qian Yuan was listening to a seminar given by Professor Mykhailo Zolotov in 2019, Zolotov explained the Gaia hypothesis and commented that the Moon was rich in iron, as was Theia.

Dr. “Right after Michael said that no one knew where the impactor was now, I had a ‘eureka moment’ and realized that the iron-rich impactor may have turned into mantle stains,” Yuan said in a statement.

Detailed modeling has shown that the scenario is a valid hypothesis. A collision with Theia would not completely destroy the planet, and most of the energy and material would remain in the upper mantle. There, the “Theia droplets” coalesced and eventually sank to the bottom near the boundary between the mantle and the core. The team likens it to the wax of a lava lamp. If the lower mantle were hotter, LLVP would not exist because the material would mix better.

The team is now investigating what consequences these structures, located in the middle of the mantle during our planet’s formative years, might have on Earth geology. Our Earth is geologically unique compared to other worlds in the solar system.

Dr. Paul Asimov said, “The logical conclusion of the idea that the LLVPs are remnants of Theia is that they are very old.” “It therefore makes sense to further investigate what consequences they had for Earth’s earliest evolution, such as the onset of subduction before conditions became suitable for modern plate tectonics, the formation of the first continents, and the origin of the oldest surviving fossils.”