The long-thought dull iron mass deep within the Earth may actually be a very complex world, research from the University of Hawaii (USA) confirms.
According to Live Science, geophysicist Rhett Butler from the Planetary Geophysics Institute at the University of Hawaii and his colleagues have re-examined inconsistent data while reviewing how seismic waves generated by major earthquakes travel across five different locations.
The Earth’s inner core is a world completely different from previous understandings – (Illustrative image from Shutterstock).
These seismic waves travel through the Earth’s core to reach the other side of the planet. However, instead of traveling straight as predicted, they are deflected when passing through the core.
The recently published research in Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors indicates that if the Earth’s inner core were a solid, intact iron sphere as traditionally thought, seismic waves would travel in a straight line. The deflection occurring in certain areas suggests that something else must be influencing them. Models indicate that this core region is only partially solid, with some areas being viscous and even containing pockets of liquid.
“We are seeing many details inside the inner core of the planet that we have never seen before,” Dr. Butler concluded.
According to another study published in the scientific journal Science Advances in 2019, the Earth’s inner core is what helps regulate the planet’s magnetic field, leading the authors to believe that this new discovery will “revolutionize” humanity’s understanding of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Previously, some NASA studies indicated that many planets also have inner cores that are not solid. Some planets, like Mars, may even have only a liquid mass in the center, with no solid core at all.
