Building Blocks of Early Earth Survived Collision that Created Moon

Release online at: http://newsdesk.umd.edu/universitynews/release.cfm?ArticleID=2623 COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Unexpected new findings by a University of Maryland team of geochemists show that some portions of the Earth’s mantle (the rocky layer between Earth’s metallic core and crust) formed when the planet was much smaller than it is now, and that some of this early-formed mantle survived Earth’s turbulent formation, including a collision with another planet-sized body that many scientists believe led to the creation of the Moon. “It is believed that Earth grew to its current size by