Where in the earth's crust minerals, including precious metals - of platinum, palladium, gold, silver? On this account there are many versions. According to one of them, platinum and gold, are trapped in the earth's crust along with meteorites attacking a young Earth is about 4 billion years ago.

Scientists came to this conclusion by comparing the tungsten isotopes in modern breeds and the ancient formed to meteoritic bombardment. A group of researchers under the direction of doctor Matthias Willbold (Matthias Willbold) from the University of Bristol (England) has found confirmation in favor of speculation that precious metals - gold and platinum, are trapped in the earth's crust along with meteorites during the later part of the meteorite bombardment, which happened about five billion. years ago.

"Domestic work suggests that a large part of precious metals on which the global industry and the modern economy, were on the domestic planet by happy coincidence, when fell to the Ground about 20 exiton (1018 thousand killogram) material asteroids," says Willbold.

Scientists in the distant past was surprised by the amount of gold contained in the earth's crust. But it is believed that while young soil only formed, iron, and with it, and precious metals - platinum and gold, fell into deep layers of the mantle and, in consequence, in the core of the planet appeared kernel. But somehow in the mantle and the crust contains many of these metals. Some time ago seemed conjecture according to which the precious metals fell to the Ground together with meteorites. Now doctor Villoldo and his staff managed to find one of her evidence. Tungsten pointed to the source of the gold. To find out where in the mantle ground seemed platinum and gold, Billbord analyzed the ratio of tungsten isotopes in ancient rocks geological formations Isua in South-West Greenland and compared it with the ratio of isotopes in meteorites and modern rock-chondrites.

It is known that in the sediments Isua lie some of the most ancient rocks on Earth. And that was extremely important for Willbold, these breeds appeared before a young soil attacked meteorites. The analysis showed that the ratio of the isotopes of tungsten-182-to-tungsten-184 in ancient rocks on 13 parts per million higher than in sovremennyh. From this, the authors conclude that Sovremennaya crust was formed under the influence of meteorites that have changed the ratio of tungsten isotopes, and additionally enriched it with gold, platinum and other precious metals. Late meteoritic bombardment had fed the crust of the earth are not only gold and platinum. According to one guesses, she filled the world ocean water. This conjecture is based on the analysis of the lunar surface, and in addition, concentrations of iridium in the earth's crust and in the moon rock. According to the adherents of this theory, during the later part of the bombing on the Earth flew so many comets that they are just enough to fill a water main terrestrial depressions.