New layer of Earth’s core may have been discovered

The core of the earth has been making many headlines lately.

A study published in the journal Nature in late January suggested that the most central part of the planet may have gradually stopped spinning and reversed its spin direction.

Now, new research has found evidence that there may be a previously unknown, deeper layer in this core than the inner core itself – today science agrees that there are only four layers in the Earth’s core: crust, mantle, outer core (liquid), and inner core ( thick).

According to a study published in the scientific journal by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) Nature CommunicationThe discovery of the “inner inner core” could help answer some questions about the planet.

The scientists explain that this is a ball of iron and nickel alloy found through analysis of seismic waves that vibrate across the Earth, bouncing back and forth up to five times in ricochet motion – waves caused by earthquakes.

By analyzing the waves, the researchers noticed the presence of an inner layer in the Earth’s innermost core and that this layer changes the timing of the seismic waves passing through it. They believe that this metallic ball may have formed after a global event that occurred on the planet at some point in the past.

“Like radiologists who image a patient’s internal organs, seismologists use seismic waves from major earthquakes to study deep within the Earth. Study authors, seismologists Thanh-Son Pham and Hrvoje Tkalcic, wrote in an article for the website, “Earthquakes are our sources, and we do not use ground motions or The seismometers that record vibrations moving around the Earth are our receivers.” Speech.

the innermost layer

As the researchers explain, the study could help to understand the evolution of Earth and life on the planet because it’s the convection currents produced inside the planet that creates the geomagnetic field around Earth – it’s precisely this field that protects us against it. Radiation from space could allow life as we know it. The convection current is produced when the Earth’s inner core expands outward and begins to solidify the fluid in the outer core.

The difference from the fifth layer to the inner core is not that visible, but the expansion of continental data analysis networks promises to increase the clarity of observations of the Earth’s interior. Therefore, the study could aid and encourage other research to understand the evolutionary history of the inner core and its connection to the magnetic field.

“This inner core is like a time capsule of Earth’s evolutionary history – a fossilized record that serves as a gateway to events in our planet’s past. Events that occurred on Earth hundreds of millions to billions of years ago,” said seismologist and professor Hrvoje. Tkalcic said in a statement from ANU.