National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) discovers 2.5-billion-year-old structure in Zimbabwe

Key facts

• Scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have identified a 2.5-billion-year-old hidden internal structure within the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe using satellite imaging and geophysics mapping.
• The Great Dyke is a massive igneous formation stretching over 500 kilometres in a nearly straight line, formed during the Archaean Eon through the intrusion of magma from deep inside the Earth.
• The newly discovered internal feature, which is not visible on the surface, is believed to be an ancient magmatic pipe or a storage site where magma cooled and chemically differentiated into mineral layers.
• Researchers utilised data from NASA Earth Science programmes, integrating remote sensing, gravity, and magnetism data to reveal subsurface heterogeneities and early magmatic events.
• The discovery provides insights into the complexity of early magma systems and the formation of terrestrial planets, while also aiding the exploitation of mineral deposits like chromium and platinum group elements.