Science is never settled, as the saying goes, and new evidence has been uncovered that could change our understanding of Earth’s core and its magnetic field. A team at Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core. According to Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, there is an additional “innermost inner core” that’s an iron-nickel alloy ball, which is a “fossilised record” of our planet’s ancient history.
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For many years, the scientific research has pointed to four layers of the Earth, made up of the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. This fifth, hidden core has been discovered by studying seismic waves that travelled back and forth across the Earth’s entire diameter up to five times. These are new, enhanced methods that have led to more detailed results, as previous studies were only able to look at single bounces of these waves.
The earthquake waves probed places near the centre at angles that suggested a different crystalline structure inside the innermost layer. Effectively, the alloy is skewing the travel times for the waves as they pass through.
The findings open up new ways to investigate the inner core, according to lead author Thanh-Son Phạm. ANU also believes the innermost inner core hints at a major event in Earth’s past that had a “significant” impact on the planet’s heart. As researchers said to The Washington Post, it could also help explain the formation of the Earth’s magnetic field. The field plays a major role in supporting life as it shields the Earth from harmful radiation and keeps water from drifting into space.
It is thought that this type of research could also assist in the way we study other planets. Mars is believed to be a barren planet because it lost its magnetic field roughly four billion years ago, leaving no protection against solar winds and dust storms that carried away the atmosphere and oceans.
