A new study has found that the Earth's inner core recently stopped rotating and reversed its spin direction. This is a significant discovery for our understanding of the Earth's inner dynamics and the interactions between its layers.
The crust, mantle, and core make up the three groups of layers that make up the Earth. Through the study of seismic waves from earthquakes, the inner core, which is located at the planet's center, was first identified in 1936. It has a width of about 7,000 kilometers and is made up of a liquid iron shell surrounding a solid iron core. According to a 1996 Nature study, there has been a little but consistent change in the amount of time seismic waves take to travel through the Earth's inner core during the previous three decades. The inner core's rotation, which is around 1 degree per year faster than that of the mantle and crust, is assumed to be the reason of this variance.
The inner core stopped spinning in 2009 and may be in the process of changing direction, according to recent study from Peaking University. According to the study, which was published in Nature Geoscience, the rotation of the core is influenced by variations in the length of the day and may cause minor changes in how long it takes for the Earth to rotate on its axis.
.
Also read: Groundbreaking discovery: Scientists detect radio signals from galaxy 9 Billion light-years away from Earth
According to the research team, the observations show evidence of dynamic interactions between the Earth's layers and may be caused by gravitational coupling and the transfer of angular momentum from the core and mantle to the surface.
Peaking University's research team anticipates that their findings will inspire additional investigation into the dynamic interactions between the Earth's layers and how they can impact the planet's past, present, and future. Understanding these interactions is essential for comprehending the planet as a whole, even though there is currently no evidence to suggest that the alteration in the inner core's rotation will harm individuals living on the surface.
