The Core of the Matter

[Steve Shannon]

Please, you guys! You’re rocketeers! Try to show some decorum.

 

[afadeev]

So now we have to choose which common core we want?

You have to core sample first, and often!

 

[mbeels]

I see we're off to a rocky start. I gravitate to the idea that there are parts of an ancient planet buried in the mantle. (https://www.science.org/content/article/remains-impact-created-moon-may-lie-deep-within-earth) But the theory has faults, so don't take it for granite.

 

[kuririn]

I lava that theory and how it core-relates to multiple lines of evidence.
It should not be taken off the plate.
That would be a serious error in logical subduction.

 

[kuririn]

Please, you guys! You’re rocketeers! Try to show some decorum.

Not possible, we're in-core-rigible.

 

[jderimig]

This thread is very clever. Thanks @ThirstyBarbarian and other "contributors".

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I see we're off to a rocky start. I gravitate to the idea that there are parts of an ancient planet buried in the mantle. (https://www.science.org/content/article/remains-impact-created-moon-may-lie-deep-within-earth) But the theory has faults, so don't take it for granite.

There is a lot of evidence for this theory, but nothing is written in stone.

 

[Funkworks]

I see we're off to a rocky start. I gravitate to the idea that there are parts of an ancient planet buried in the mantle. (https://www.science.org/content/article/remains-impact-created-moon-may-lie-deep-within-earth) But the theory has faults, so don't take it for granite.

Dissolving these mine-boggling corundums is in-core-edibly hard, but represent a golden opportunity for a luminary to iron out faulty theories of past ages.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I told a friend about how these scientists believe they have discovered a new innermost core inside the Earth’s inner core, and before I could explain anything about it, she jumped in with, “Is it solid gold?”

Ha ha!

Supposedly the solid core is nickel iron alloy. But it does seem like all the heaviest elements, like gold, lead, uranium, etc. would sink to the bottom. So is there a big gold nugget 100 miles across down there? Is there a huge pit of uranium cooking away? Or did the iron solidify and drop to the bottom and the precious stuff still liquid floating above it?

I can imagine the different elements with different densities and different melting points would differentiate and concentrate, and maybe somewhere in space there’s the remnants of the shattered core of some unfortunate planet, and it’s a chunk of pure gold the size of Texas.

 

[Funkworks]

I told a friend about how these scientists believe they have discovered a new innermost core inside the Earth’s inner core, and before I could explain anything about it, she jumped in with, “Is it solid gold?”

Ha ha!

Supposedly the solid core is nickel iron alloy. But it does seem like all the heaviest elements, like gold, lead, uranium, etc. would sink to the bottom. So is there a big gold nugget 100 miles across down there? Is there a huge pit of uranium cooking away? Or did the iron solidify and drop to the bottom and the precious stuff still liquid floating above it?

I can imagine the different elements with different densities and different melting points would differentiate and concentrate, and maybe somewhere in space there’s the remnants of the shattered core of some unfortunate planet, and it’s a chunk of pure gold the size of Texas.

Iron and nickel are among the most stable elements in that they don't really want to undergo fusion or fission, so lots of it has been produced in pre-Earth stars. Heavier elements are less common in the universe. Earth's core problably has some heavier stuff too but in smaller amounts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_core
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleosynthesis