New study suggests Earth's lower mantel penetrated by metallic blobs

(Phys.org)—Researchers from Yale University have found that molten iron is able to penetrate into rock samples in a unique way under certain conditions. Geophysicist Shun-ichiro Karato and student Kazuhiko Otsuka together have found that when molten iron is brought into contact with magnesium-iron oxide crystals under high pressures and temperatures, metal blobs form inside the crystals – suggesting that it might be possible that the Earth's lower mantel might consist of a similar metal heavy material. They present their findings in a joint paper published in the journal Nature.

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