DAVIS, Calif., March 3 (UPI) -- Scientists at the University of California, Davis, are recreating the violent collisions of early Earth. In doing so, researchers have been able to study the behavior of vaporized iron -- gaining a better understanding of the formation of the Earth and the moon.
UC Davis scientists were assisted by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory and Harvard University. To recreate the conditions of the early solar system, scientists used Sandia National Laboratory's Z-machine, largest X-ray generator in the world. More specifically, scientists slammed aluminum plates into iron samples at high speed, mimicking the condition of early Earth impacts and collisions.