Strange signals from deep within the Earth have helped scientists identify a fantastical world, 3,000 kilometers beneath the surface, where silicon-rich “snow” is falling.
Graphic depiction of a world with “snow” falling inside the Earth – (Image: TOKYO UNIVERSITY).
According to geologist Suyu Fu from the University of Tokyo, a member of the research team, they recreated the conditions inside the Earth’s outer core in a laboratory to test the hypothesis of silicon-rich “snow” falling back toward the mantle and depositing into strange “rivers.”
The skepticism arises from the fact that seismic waves obtained from the depths of the Earth are often inconsistent. One of the sources of this “noise” is the low-density material zone located approximately 3,000 kilometers below the surface, situated between the liquid iron-rich outer core and the mantle, as cited in the research published on Science Alert.
The new study proposes that if silicon and hydrogen are the two primary light elements of the outer core, then the phenomenon of snow-like silicon-rich material falling into the mantle could occur.
Laboratory results also indicate that under pressure and temperature conditions similar to those of the Earth’s outer core, silicon-rich snow could form and “float” up through the denser liquid iron layer to accumulate at the boundary region, thereby creating disturbances in the seismic waves.
The movement of the outer core controls the magnetic field of our planet, which serves as a protective shield against harmful cosmic rays and solar weather. Therefore, gaining a better understanding of this deep region, how it moves, and interacts with the mantle is crucial for predicting how the Earth’s magnetic field may behave in the future.
This research has just been published in the scientific journal Nature.
