{"id":312902,"date":"2021-07-31T13:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-31T10:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over\/"},"modified":"2021-07-31T13:00:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T10:00:29","slug":"gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over\/","title":{"rendered":"#Gravitational forces stop Earth\u2019s asymmetrical core from tipping us over"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a393cc1aa56b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a393cc1aa56b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over\/#Early_Earth\" >Early Earth<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over\/#Core_issue\" >Core issue<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-from-tipping-us-over\/#Dating_the_core\" >Dating the core<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Gravitational forces stop Earth\u2019s asymmetrical core from tipping us over<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>More than 5,000 kilometers beneath us, Earth\u2019s solid metal inner core wasn\u2019t discovered <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.seas.harvard.edu\/climate\/eli\/Courses\/EPS281r\/Sources\/Inner-Core\/Lehmann-1936-extracts+interpretation.pdf\">until 1936<\/a>. Almost a century later, we\u2019re still struggling to answer basic questions about when and how it first formed.<\/p>\n<p>These aren\u2019t easy puzzles to solve. We can\u2019t directly sample the inner core, so the key to unravelling its mysteries lies in collaboration between <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/seismology\">seismologists<\/a>, who indirectly sample it with seismic waves, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/topics\/earth-and-planetary-sciences\/geodynamics\">geodynamicists<\/a>, who create models of its dynamics, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/booksite.elsevier.com\/brochures\/geophysics\/PDFs\/00028.pdf\">mineral physicists<\/a>, who study the behavior of iron alloys at high pressures and temperatures.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/xo23fcyip6?videoFoam=true&amp;autoPlay=true\" title=\"Whats it like to be a startup founder in Barcelona? Video\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wistia_embed\" name=\"wistia_embed\" allowfullscreen=\"\" msallowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Combining these disciplines, scientists have delivered an important clue about what\u2019s h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening miles beneath our feet. In <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41561-021-00761-w\">a new study<\/a>, they reveal how Earth\u2019s inner core is growing faster on one side than the other, which could help explain how old the inner core is, and the intriguing history of Earth\u2019s magnetic field.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Early_Earth\"><\/span>Early Earth<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Earth\u2019s core was formed <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/websites.pmc.ucsc.edu\/%7Efnimmo\/website\/Nimmo_Kleine.pdf\">very early<\/a> in our planet\u2019s 4.5 billion-year history, within the first 200 million years. Gravity pulled the heavier iron to the center of the young planet, leaving the rocky, silicate minerals to make up <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/curious-kids-what-is-the-earth-made-of-119192\">the mantle and crust<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Earth\u2019s formation captured a lot of heat within the planet. The loss of this heat, and heating by ongoing radioactive decay, have since driven our planet\u2019s evolution. Heat loss in Earth\u2019s interior drives the vigorous flow in the liquid iron outer core, which creates <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/are-the-earths-magnetic-poles-about-to-swap-places-strange-anomaly-gives-reassuring-clue-142859\">Earth\u2019s magnetic field<\/a>. Meanwhile, cooling within Earth\u2019s deep interior helps power <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/media\/plate-tectonics\/\">plate tectonics<\/a>, which shape the surface of our planet.<\/p>\n<p>As Earth cooled over time, the temperature at the center of the planet eventually dropped below the melting point of iron at extreme pressures, and the inner core started to crystallize. Today, the inner core continues to grow at roughly 1mm in radius each year, which equates to the solidification of 8,000 tons of molten iron every second. In billions of years, this cooling will eventually lead to the whole <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/curious-kids-what-would-happen-if-the-earths-core-went-cold-107537\">core becoming solid<\/a>, leaving Earth without its protective magnetic field.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Core_issue\"><\/span>Core issue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>One might assume that this solidification creates a homogeneous solid sphere, but this isn\u2019t the case. In the 1990s, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/96JB03187\">scientists<\/a> realised that the speed of seismic waves <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ling through the inner core varied unexpectedly. This suggested that something asymmetrical was happening in the inner core.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the eastern and western halves of the inner core showed different seismic wavespeed variations. The eastern part of the inner core is beneath Asia, the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, and the west lies under the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/413736\/original\/file-20210729-27-hvegx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\" alt=\"A diagram of the Earth's interior\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fscience%2F2021%2F07%2F31%2Fhow-gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-tipping-us-over-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Seismic waves have suggested Earth\u2019s solid iron core is asymmetrical. Image via Sanne Cottaar, author provided\" data-title=\"Share Seismic waves have suggested Earth\u2019s solid iron core is asymmetrical. Image via Sanne Cottaar, author provided on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Seismic waves have suggested Earth\u2019s solid iron core is asymmetrical. Image via Sanne Cottaar, author provided on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Seismic waves have suggested Earth\u2019s solid iron core is asymmetrical. Image via Sanne Cottaar, author provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The new study probed this mystery, using new seismic observations combined with geodynamic modelling and estimates of how iron alloys behave at high pressure. They found that the eastern inner core located beneath Indonesia\u2019s Banda Sea is growing faster than the western side beneath Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>You can think of this uneven growth as like trying to make ice cream in a freezer that\u2019s only working on one side: ice crystals form only on the side of the ice cream where the cooling is effective. In the Earth, the uneven growth is caused by the rest of the planet sucking heat more quickly from some parts of the inner core than others.<\/p>\n<p>But unlike the ice cream, the solid inner core is subject to gravitational forces which distribute the new growth evenly through a process of creeping interior flow, which maintains the inner core\u2019s spherical shape. This means that Earth is in no danger of tipping, though this uneven growth does get recorded in the seismic wavespeeds in our planet\u2019s inner core.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dating_the_core\"><\/span>Dating the core<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So does this approach help us understand how old the inner core might be? When the researchers matched their seismic observations with their flow models, they found that it\u2019s likely that the inner core \u2013 at the center of the entire core which formed much earlier \u2013 is between 500 million and 1,500 million years old.<\/p>\n<p>The study reports that the younger end of this age range is the better match, although the older end matches <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-we-discovered-that-the-earths-inner-core-is-older-than-previously-thought-48775\">an estimate<\/a> made by measuring changes in the strength of Earth\u2019s magnetic field. Whichever number turns out to be correct, it\u2019s clear that the inner core is a relative youngster, somewhere between a ninth and a third as old as Earth itself.<\/p>\n<p>This new work presents a powerful new model of the inner core. However, a number of physical assumptions the authors made would have to be true for this to be correct. For example, the model only works if the inner core consists of one specific crystalline phase of iron, about which there is some uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>And does our uneven inner core make the Earth unusual? It turns out that many planetary bodies have two halves which are somehow different to each other. On <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mgs\/sci\/mola\/mola-may99.html\">Mars<\/a>, the surface of the northern half is lower-lying while the southern half is more mountainous. The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/moon.nasa.gov\/resources\/268\/moon-crustal-thickness\/\">Moon\u2019s<\/a> near-side crust is chemically different to the far-side one. On <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/messenger\/in-depth\/\">Mercury<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-018-06095-9\">Jupiter<\/a> it\u2019s not the surface which is uneven but the magnetic field, which doesn\u2019t form a mirror image between north and south.<\/p>\n<p>So while the causes for all of these asymmetries vary, Earth appears to be in good company as a slightly asymmetrical planet in a solar system of lopsided celestial bodies.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/165266\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/165266\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/jessica-irving-1213467\">Jessica Irving<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Geophysics, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-bristol-1211\">University of Bristol<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/sanne-cottaar-1254747\">Sanne Cottaar<\/a>, Lecturer in Global Seismology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-cambridge-1283\">University of Cambridge<\/a>,\u00a0is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/earths-inner-core-is-growing-more-on-one-side-than-the-other-heres-why-the-planet-isnt-tipping-165266\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/how-gravitational-forces-stop-earths-asymmetrical-core-tipping-us-over-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Gravitational forces stop Earth\u2019s asymmetrical core from tipping us over&#8221; More than 5,000 kilometers beneath us, Earth\u2019s solid metal inner core wasn\u2019t discovered until 1936. Almost a century later, we\u2019re still struggling to answer basic questions about when and how it first formed. These aren\u2019t easy puzzles to solve. We can\u2019t directly sample the inner&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":312903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/Composition-of-Earth\u2019s-mantle-14259873660_3dd8dd2dbe_k.jpg&signature=b0577d8e0ceb62819e4e8e256de7fee5","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}