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holodukeyesterday at 9:59 PM1 replyview on HN

I thought the impact of Thea made heavier elements spread much more evenly towards the surface.


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adrian_byesterday at 10:14 PM

True, but even with that, the amount of siderophile elements like platinum and gold in the crust is much less than in the core of the Earth ("siderophile" means that at the contact between molten iron and molten silicate rock such elements go into the molten iron).

Without that impact, it is assumed that almost no platinum-group metals and gold would have remained in the crust.

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