For the first time, a Chilean-French research team has found evidence that gold has it´s origin deep inside the earth.
By investigating stones with gold mineralization from the Deseadomassivet in Patagonia, scientists came to the conclusion that lava brought the stones up to the crust. The findings can revolutionize the research of the precious metal origin, which has been a major breakthrough for research during many centuries.
Gold, according to a theory, is the result of nuclear reactions in stars or the reactions that arose in connection with the explosions that followed. The element was later incorporated into the protoplanet that existed before the earth was formed. According to another theory, gold came to earth from the outside when the planet was bombarded by asteroids, when the Earth's crust had already settled. The new findings support the previous hypothesis. However, the researchers do not rule out the latter either.
"We are very modest. What we simply claim is that in this part of the Patagonia gold comes from deep layers in the earth's crust, which seems to rule out the later major bombardment. But in other regions, other scenarios are possible, says Michel Grégoire to Science Ethics.
The researchers' story about the findings have been published in Nature Communications.
