yi yang Y Song Xiaodongtwo researchers from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Geophysics of Peking University, in China, have just published in the journal geoscience of nature a study on the behavior of earth core that has surprised the scientific community. According to data obtained by scientists, the rotation speed of the Earth’s core would have slowed down in recent years and, in addition, it would have begun to rotate in the opposite direction, that is, towards the west.
To reach these conclusions, researchers have analyzed the seismic waves produced by nearly 200 earthquakes at two points far away from Earth: Alaska (near the North Pole) and the South Sandwich Islands (near Antarctica). In this way, the measurement of the speed of the displacement of the waves through the layers allows us to better understand what is happening inside the center of the planet.
The rotation of the inner core of the earth could be changing
The researchers suggested that this phenomenon could be a cyclical geological pattern of the Earth that occurs every 70 years.
It is likely that the core movement speed up and then slow down once more, coming to another apparent standstill in the 2040s and completing its last cycle of turning east and west.
The consequences of the change in the movement of the Earth’s core
“The promising data that the inner core might even be in the process of reverting to subrotation. If so, it’s likely that something is going on with the magnetic and gravitational forces that drive the inner core’s rotation. Such changes could link the inner core to broader geophysical phenomena, such as increases or decreases in the length of a day on Earth.published in the magazine.
The changes that cause this phenomenon are subtle: There could be changes in the planet’s magnetic field, or even alter the length of a day, making it slightly shorter by a few seconds. In fact, it is already known that the 24 hours were never exact, but increased and decreased by a fraction of a millisecond every six years.
Scientists warn that parts of the planet’s core belong to early Earth
The debate, in this case, points to deeper questions about the formation of the earth and how its inner layers support life on its surface, something that can help studies of habitability on rocky planets that revolve around other stars.
However, any situation or effect of the center of the planet on other phenomena becomes quickly speculative, since the cThe behavior of the kernel itself is still a controversial issue.
The conclusions of the study ensure that “these observations obtained evidence that there are dynamic interactions between the different layers of the earthfrom the deepest interior to the surface, possibly due to gravitational coupling and angular momentum exchange from the core and mantle to the surface.”
JP/fl
You may also like
