I'm an award-winning journalist writing about the night sky and eclipses.
New research suggests that Earth’s inner core has been slowing down for 14 years, which could mean the length of a day slightly increases.Around 3,000 miles below the surface, Earth's inner core is a sphere of solid iron-nickel. It's about the same size as the moon and surrounded by an outer core of liquid iron-nickel outer core, which generates Earth’s magnetic field. Above that outer core is the rocky mantle and, finally, the crust.
Since it can't be seen or sampled, Earth's inner core is famously difficult to study. The easiest way to study the core is to get data from seismic waves produced by earthquakes. In this case, the researchers used seismic data from earthquakes and nuclear tests to analyze the inner core's movement.Scientists from the University of Southern California and the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the Earth's inner core is slowing down in relation to the planet's surface.
The research shows that the inner core is moving slightly slower instead of faster than the Earth’s mantle for the first time in about 40 years."The inner core had slowed down for the first time in many decades,"John Vidale, Dean’s Professor of Earth Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences."Other scientists have recently argued for similar and different models, but our latest study provides the most convincing resolution.
“When I first saw the seismograms that hinted at this change, I was stumped,” said Vidale. “But when we found two dozen more observations signaling the same pattern, the result was inescapable.Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.
Rotation Length Of Day Earth Speeding Up Seismic Astronomy
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Earth’s inner core has been spinning slowly since over a decade: StudyThe slowing down of the inner core can likely “alter the length of a day by fractions of a second” on the Earth's surface.
Read more »
It's Official: The Rotation of Earth's Inner Core Really Is Slowing DownThe Best in Science News and Amazing Breakthroughs
Read more »
The rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed, new study confirmsThe new study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth's surface.
Read more »
The rotation of Earth's inner core is slowing downSamantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. Previously, her work has been published in Nature World News.
Read more »
Something weird is happening to Earth’s inner coreA new study claims to confirm that the inner core is now rotating more slowly than it was over a decade ago, but some researchers remain skeptical.
Read more »
The Earth's inner core is 'backtracking' — here's how it might impact daily life5,000 kilometres below the surface we live on, the core of the Earth spins independently in the liquid metal outer core. Presumably, the Earth's core and mantle had always rotated in the same sense. Now the core has slowed down and is starting to rotate in the opposite direction.
Read more »