Research Reveals 99 Percent of Earth's Gold Buried in One Place
- It turns out that 99% of Earth's gold is stored in one location. However, humans cannot enjoy this gold because it is deep in the Earth's core.
"What we can conclude is that 99 percent of the Earth's gold content is in its core," said researcher Bernard Wood from Macquarie University.
Wood and his team managed to find the location of the gold through research. The research came from inspiration regarding asteroids that have a similar composition to Earth.
They measured the composition of carbonaceous chondrites in meteorites from the asterite. From there, the composition of the asteroid becomes a reference for measuring the composition of Earth's materials.
The results revealed that elements insoluble in molten iron would not exist in the Earth's core. So there are elements that are abundant in the crust compared to the core.
The research team's assumption is that the Earth's core has a composition similar to that of meteorites. Next they calculated what elements were dissolved in the iron.
The United States (US) Space Agency or NASA has the same logic as Wood. The institute has a mission to research an asteroid called Psyche, which is said to be cheaper than going to the Earth's core.
If NASA succeeds in bringing home the gold from Psyche, this will create new problems on Earth. Because the price of gold experienced a sharp decline.
IFL Science also reported about the amount of gold in the Earth's core. It is said that gold can cover the entire planet with a thickness of 50 cm.
Penelitian Ungkap 99 Persen Emas Bumi Terkubur di Satu Tempat
- Ternyata 99% emas Bumi tersimpan di satu lokasi. Namun, emas tersebut tak bisa dinikmati manusia karena jauh berada di inti Bumi.
"Apa yang bisa kami simpulkan adalah 99 persen dari kandungan emas Bumi ada di intinya," kata peneliti Bernard Wood dari Macquarie University.
Wood dan timnya melalui penelitian berhasil menemukan lokasi emas tersebut. Penelitian itu berasal dari inspirasi mengenai asteroid yang memiliki komposisi serupa dengan Bumi.
Mereka melakukan pengukuran komposisi chondrite berkarbon pada meteorit dari asteroit itu. Dari sana, komposisi asteroid menjadi acuan mengukur komposisi material Bumi.
Hasil temuannya mengungkapkan elemen tidak larut dalam besi cair tidak akan ada di inti Bumi. Jadi ada elemen yang melimpah di bagian kerak dibandingkan inti.
Asumsi tim peneliti adalah inti Bumi memiliki komposisi serupa dengan meteorit. Berikutnya mereka menghitung elemen apa yang larut dalam besi.
Badan Antariksa Amerika Serikat (AS) atau NASA memiliki logika yang sama seperti Wood. Lembaga itu memiliki misi meneliti asteroid bernama Psyche, yang disebut lebih murah dibandingkan harus menuju ke inti Bumi.
Jika NASA berhasil membawa pulang emas dari Psyche, ini bakal membuat masalah baru di Bumi. Karena harga emas mengalami penurunan tajam.
IFL Science juga sempat melaporkan soal banyaknya emas di inti Bumi. Kabarnya emas itu bisa melapisi seluruh bagian planet dengan ketebalan 50cm.