Earth's inner core might have stopped and changed direction: Check out what happens now!
Earth
Earth's inner corehas always had a pace of its own. Surprisingly, scientists have known about the unusual behaviour since the mid-1990s. However, a recent study revealed that Earth's inner core has stopped spinning and might change its original direction of motion. A study published in Nature Geoscience stated that the internal core rotation of our planet recently paused after geoscientists analysed the motion pattern. In 2009, the movement stopped suddenly and started moving in the opposite direction. Earth's inner core moves in relative motion with the speed of Earth like a swing, and one cycle of the swing is about seven decades, geoscientists told AFP. Previously, it switched paths in the early 1970s. According to the prediction by researchers from China's Peking University, the successive motion would be in the 2040s.
Our planet earth consists of three layers, crust, core and mantle. The Earth's core again divides into two, the inner and outer. Let's look deeper into the Earth's inner core to understand what's happening.
What is Earth's inner core?
In 1936, scientists discovered it while analysing the waves that travel through the planet during an earthquake. About 7,000 kilometres wide, it is made up of a shell of liquid iron wrapping a solid centre of the iron.
A study in 1996 revealed that the travelling speed of seismic waves through the Earth's inner core demonstrated a periodic variation over the last three decades. The rotation rate grew faster by 1 degree per year than the mantle and crust.
What will happen due to directional change in Earth's inner core?
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According to the researchers, the core's rotation directly connects to a day's length, Earth's rotation, and Earth's mantle and crust. They have also cited evidence of gravitational coupling that led to dynamic interactions between all three layers of Earth. However, no evidence shows that the directional change in Earth's inner core has affected the routine lives of people.
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