Earth inner core spinning

2023 - 1 - 25

Post cover — Image courtesy of "CBS News"

Earth's inner core may have started spinning in the other direction ... (CBS News)

Exactly how the inner core rotates has been a matter of debate between scientists — and the latest research is expected to prove controversial.

"Something's happening and I think we're gonna figure it out," Vidale said. That time frame is around the point when Monday's research says the inner core last changed direction — which Vidale called "kind of a coincidence." Another theory — which Vidale said has some good evidence supporting it — is that the inner core only significantly moved between 2001 to 2013 and has stayed put since. "We believe the inner core rotates, relative to the Earth's surface, back and forth, like a swing," they told AFP. The researchers said this rotation roughly lines up with changes in what is called the "length of day" — small variations in the exact time it takes Earth to rotate on its axis. Exactly how the inner core rotates has been a matter of debate between scientists — and the latest research is expected to prove controversial.

Making heads spin: Scientists say Earth's inner core has changed its ... (Euronews)

The Earth's core may have stopped spinning, or may even now be spinning backwards, according to a new study. The core of our planet is made up of an outer ...

Their paper is published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The edge of the outer core meets the Earth’s mantle at a depth of around 2,890 km, and this outer core is believed to be made of liquid iron and nickel. The core of our planet is made up of an outer layer of liquid metal, and an inner core of solid metal that is about 70 per cent the size of the Moon.

Earth's inner core may have stopped spinning – but what does that ... (New Atlas)

The inner Earth is a mysterious place, and now scientists may have uncovered a strange new secret. According to a new study, the Earth's inner core may have ...

This is all part of a 70-year cycle, according to the researchers. That doesn’t mean that it’s not spinning at all – it means that the core’s rotation is now essentially in lockstep with the rotation at the surface. But again, that doesn't quite mean what it sounds like – instead, the core’s slowing rotation makes it appear to be drifting backwards relative to the surface. Now a new study has reached a surprising conclusion – that relative to Earth’s surface, the inner core stopped spinning around 2009. This has helped geologists learn new details, including that the core could be made of a [superionic iron alloy.](https://newatlas.com/science/earth-inner-core-superionic-iron-alloy/?itm_source=newatlas&itm_medium=article-body) The inner Earth is a mysterious place, and now scientists may have uncovered a strange new secret.

Earth's inner core has started spinning in the opposite direction ... (Evening Standard)

How the inner core rotates has long been a topic of debate, with this latest finding proving to be controversial. Earth's core consists of two things, ...

The outer core is liquid and made up of molten iron and nickel. “We believe the inner core rotates, relative to the Earth’s surface, back and forth, like a swing,” they said. The inner core, however, is a solid ball of iron-nickel alloy and is separated from the rest of the Earth by the outer core meaning it rotates differently.

Earth's inner core may have stopped spinning, reversed direction (Business Insider)

Earthquakes and nuclear blasts can send seismic waves through the mysterious solid-iron core. Those waves hint that the core changed direction in the 1970s, ...

He told The Washington Post that would explain the pauses in 1971 and 2009. Every few decades, one force may win out over the other, changing the spin of the great iron ball. The researchers found a quirk starting in 2009: In the last decade, the paths of similar seismic waves did not change. It could be a long time before scientists piece together the full picture, though — if they ever do. [Published in the journal Nature Geoscience](https://affiliate.insider.com/?postID=63d02ca61aaf4e578019a736&site=bi&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41561-022-01112-z&amazonTrackingID=null&platform=browser&sc=false&disabled=false) on Monday, the peer-reviewed research suggests that the solid inner core of the Earth could experience changes in its rotation every several decades. Spinning is one of the leading explanations for these seismic mismatches. [Living on Earth's surface](https://www.businessinsider.com/animation-shows-earth-surface-components-2020-5), we only see about 0.5% of the planet. The theory is that Earth's magnetic field pulls the inner core and causes it to spin, while the gravitational field of the mantle creates a counter force, dragging on the inner core. Another explanation is that the surface of the inner core is changing over time, rather than the whole iron ball spinning. It looks closely at seismic waves from the 1960s to the present day. The new study throws a wrench in the core's spin. Those deep seismic waves have shown that the core is mostly composed of pure, solid iron and nickel, and that it may spin a little faster than the rest of the Earth.

Study Says Earth's Inner Core May Have Started Spinning In The ... (NDTV)

New research published in the journal Nature Geoscience analysed seismic waves from repeating earthquakes over the last six decades.

Hrvoje Tkalcic, a geophysicist at the Australian National University, has published research suggesting that the inner core's cycle is every 20 to 30 years, rather than the 70 proposed in the latest study. But the researchers said they believed there are physical links between all of Earth's layers, from the inner core to the surface. That timeframe is around the point when Monday's research says the inner core last changed direction -- which Vidale called "kind of a coincidence". So far there is little to indicate that what the inner core does has many effects on surface dwellers. What little we know about the inner core comes from measuring the tiny differences in seismic waves -- created by earthquakes or sometimes nuclear explosions -- as they pass through the middle of the Earth. Exactly how the inner core rotates has been a matter of debate between scientists -- and the latest research is expected to prove controversial.