Iron is used everywhere in our lives. But if someone asks you where on earth so much iron comes from, you might not have the answer. Some people will say that it is found inside the earth. So will it never end? Scientists have given the answer, which is quite interesting.
Research has shown that when the Earth originated about four and a half billion years ago, its surface was full of volcanoes and molten rocks. Due to volcanic lava, the iron that fell on the outer layer of the earth kept melting for millions of years and gradually it dissolved and reached the center of the earth. This iron came with the meteorite rain. Currently, there are only reserves of iron and magnesium up to 2890 kilometers below the earth.
… Then how is iron made?
Iron is one of the heaviest elements that can be created by nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars. Fusion occurs when lighter atoms break together and form heavier atoms. Energy is released in this process. At the center of the star, hydrogen fuses into helium, then helium fuses into carbon, and so on, until iron is formed. Iron is special because it is the most stable element. Meaning it takes more energy to add it than to leave it. While doing this, the star’s fuel gets exhausted and it explodes. Which is called supernova. Due to this explosion, elements like iron scatter in space and also come to Earth from here. Scientists say that all the iron did not come from supernova, some came from meteorites, pieces of rock that fell from space.
This is how oxygen was created on earth
Almost all the iron on Earth comes from these rock deposits formed about two billion years ago. Scientists also discovered in their research that there was never oxygen in the atmosphere and ocean. At that time, organisms capable of photosynthesis started producing oxygen from the oceans and it mixed with dissolved oxygen on the earth and started producing hematite and magnetite. Hematite is a common iron oxide compound found widely in rocks and soils. Iron production started from here. This is known as “Banded Iron Formation”. So will iron never run out? According to the scientist, as long as there is oxygen on earth and such rocks are present, iron will be produced. There is no possibility of it ending for millions of years.
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FIRST PUBLISHED: January 19, 2024, 12:11 IST
