Introduction :
Iron is the mostabundantelement in the total composition
of the Earth (>35% of its total mass) and the fourthabundantelement in
itscrust (5.6%). This observation has led to the logical conclusion that the
majority of the Earth's iron must behidden below its crust (i.e. withinbothitscore
and mantle). If thisis the case, how could this element be sent down to Earth as
stated in the abovementioned Qur'anic verse?
And how couldit have penetrated the outercrust of the
Earth to itsinner zones of mantle and core?
To answerthese questions, the Earth must betreated as
part of the total cosmos, from which it was separated, not merely as an
isolatedentity. In thiscontext, recent cosmological discoveries have provedthat:
1-
Hydrogen (the simplest and the lightestknownelement) is
by far the mostabundantelement in the observeduniverse (constituting about 74%).
2-
Thispredominant, universalhydrogenisfollowed in abundance
by helium (the second in the periodic table of elementsconstituting about 24%).
3-
Thesetwo, simple nuclei of hydrogen and
heliumconstitutetogether the highestpercentage of the observeduniverse (>
98%).Heavierelements are onlyrepresented by traces that do not exceed 1-2% of the
total mass of the observeduniverse, and are onlylocallyconcentrated in certain
heavenly bodies.
Suchfundamentaldiscoveries have led to the important
conclusion thathydrogennuclei are the basic building blocks fromwhich all the otherelementswere
and are currentlybeingcreated by aprocesscallednuclear fusion. This
nucleosynthesis of elements by nuclear fusion) is self- sustaining,
generallyhighlyexothermic (i.e. releases excessively large quantities of
energy) and is the source of the very hot and glowing nature of stars. However,
when the process of nucleosynthesisreaches the level of producingiron, the
reactionbecomesendothermic (i.e. energyconsuming) and hence, the star
eitherexplodes or condenses on itself and fades out gradually to
completedimming and absolutedarkness (a stage generallyknown as the Black Hole).
Nuclear Fusion withinoursunmainlyproduceshelium, with a
verylimitednumber of slightlyheavierelements. The percentage of iron in the
sunisestimated to be in the order of 0.0037%. Knowingthat the Earth as well as
all otherplanets and satellites in oursolar system wereactuallyseparatedfrom
the sun, whichdoes not generateiron, another question wasraised: wherehad the
immense quantity of iron in ourEarth come from?
Our sunis a modest star, with a surface temperature of
about 6,000 C, and an innercoretemperature of about 15,000,000 C. Such figures
are far below the calculatedtemperatures for the production of iron by the
process of nuclear fusion. The heaviestelementprduced
in oursun by the process of nuclear fusion issilicon (Si). This isaccompanied
by bothcarbon (C) and oxygen (O) nuclei.
Consequently, other sources much hotter than the
sunweresought as possible sites for the generation of iron in the observeduniverse.
One of the suggested sources of excessive heatwas the "Big Bang"
explosion of the initial singularityfromwhichouruniversewascreated. However,
all speculations about thiseventsuggestthatshortlyafter the "Big
Bang" matterwas in such an elementary stage thatonlyhydrogen and helium
(with possible traces of lithium) could have been generated. Again, if any
traces of ironwereproduced at that stage, ironwould have been more
evenlydistributed in the observeduniverse, whichis not the case.
NUCEOSYNTHESIS OF ELEMENTS AS A
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL ORIGIN OF IRON IN OUR EARTH:
Nucleosynthesis of elementstakes place in the innercores of stars according
toits initial masses as well as to how muchthese starsloseduringitsdevelopment.
This has been proved by following the thermonuclearreactions in the cores of
the "Main Sequence-Stars" as follows:
A "Main Sequence Star" with an initial mass
close to that of oursunstartswith the fusion of itshydrogennuclei to
producehelium. Then the gradualincrease in the amount of the
producedheliumnucleipushes the remaining, non-fusedhydrogennucleioutwardly in
the form of aburninghydrogen front around a heliumcore. In thiscore,
gravitydominates over the outwardpressure, leading to the contraction of the heliumnuclei and the
expansion of the outward, burninghydrogen front.Hencethis "Main Sequence
Star" changes intowhatisknown as a "Red Giant". Further
contraction of the "RedGiant's" heliumcore and expansion of
itsouterburning front, will cause a mildcore collapse and eventuallywill lead
to the decrease of its mass by about 20%,changingintowhatisknown as a
"White Dwarf" (the size of the Earth but the mass of the sun).
Withsubsequent slow gravitational contraction, shrinking, cooling and dimming,
the "White Dwarf" changes intowhatisdescribed as a "Brown
Dwarf" or a "Black Dwarf". This process of core collapse,
gradualshrinking, cooling and darkeningis the naturalresult of a winninginward
pull of gravity over adecreasingoutward push fusion process due to the
consumption of itshydrogen fuel content.
Similar to the light stars, massive "Main SequenceStars"
(ten or more times the mass of oursun) alsopass by the
"RedGiant"phase, wherethey are described as "Red Super-giants",
but they have a quitedifferentevolutionarypath. Shrinking of the heliumcore of
a "RedSupergiant" createsgreater forces that restart itsnuclear
fusion.With a muchlargergravitational pull to the center of the core (due to
itsgreater mass) and much more active internal collisions,the combinedeffect of
contraction and collision are highlyaccelerated. Thisresults in tremendously
high temperatures capable of the gradualgeneration of
progressivelyheavieratomicnucleisuch as carbon, oxygen, silicon and ironthrough
the process of nuclear fusion. A massive star will have an
ironcoresurroundedoutwardly by shells of silicon, oxygen, carbon, helium and
hydrogen. When the "Red Super giant's" coreischangedintocarbon,
excessive quantities of energy are released, and these lead to the outward push
of a second burning front of heliumtowards the first and envelopinghydrogen
front.
With thesubsequent contraction of the carboncore,
itstemperaturerisesexcessivelyto allow the fusion of the carbonnucleiinto a
chainprocessthat passes by magnesium, followed by aluminum, thensilicon.
The siliconcore changes
graduallyintoheaviernucleiduringsimilarepisodes of contraction of the core and
expansion of the surrounding fronts, releasing more energy and changing the
"RedSupergiant" into a "Supernova", whereironstarts to
form. The generation of iron in the core of the "Supernova" starts to
consume itsenergy, because of the factthat the fusion of
siliconintoironishighlyendothermic (i.e.itconsumes excessive quantities of
energy). As the core of the "Supernova" changes intoiron, itexplodes
in the form of agiant "Supernova", ejectingitsgaseousenvelopes and
shatteringitscore to piecesthatfly out intoouterspace to reachothercelestial
bodies thatneed iron. Duringitsspacejourney, ironmay fuse with one or more of
the elementaryparticlesthatfill the universe to formfurtheheaviernuclei.
Summary and Conclusion
This discussion clearlyproves the celestial
(extra-terrestrial) origin of iron in ourearth (and subsequently, in oursolar
system). Suchfact came to humanknowledgeonly in the laterhalf of the
twentiethcentury (mid 1950s).The
explicitrevealation of this
scientificfact in the gloriousQuran more thanfourteen
centuries ago,is one of more thanthirteenhundredcosmicQuranic versesthatcantestify
for the divine origin of this Noble Book.
References:
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Synthesis of the Elements in Stars
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F. Hoyle. Rev. Mod. Phys. 29, 547 – Published 1 October 1957
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4-The Origin of Chemical ElementsPublished April 1, 1948
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