A new study investigates iron’s form at the planet’s interior. The findings have repercussions for understanding the inner core’s structure.
Earth’s core
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Seven-Ages of Earth as Seen Through the Continental Lens
The 4.5-billion-year record contained in Earth’s continental crust reveals a seven-phase evolution, from an initial magma ocean to the present-day environment in which we live.
Posted inNews
Swinging Strength of Earth’s Magnetic Field Could Signal Inner Core Formation
The magnetic record stored in rocks documents the liquid core’s behavior and possibly when the inner core formed. Whether it formed half a billion or more than a billion years ago, however, is up for debate.
Posted inNews
Earth’s Wobbly Inner Core Illuminated by Nuclear Explosions
Shock waves from Cold War era nuclear tests gave seismologists a glimpse of the inner core. Its wobbly rotation could explain phenomena such as the periodic change in the length of a day.
Posted inFeatures
Is Earth’s Core Rusting?
If subduction carries hydrous minerals deep into Earth’s mantle, they may “rust” the iron outer core, forming vast sinks of oxygen that can later be returned to the atmosphere.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Results Deepen the Mystery of Earth’s Early Magnetic Field
How was Earth’s early magnetic field produced? New experimental results and modeling show that the energy source could not have come from exsolution of lithophile elements from the core.
![Figure 2 from Wang and Tkalčić [2021]](https://i0.wp.com/eos.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021GL094784-Figure-2-sized-1200x675-1.png?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1)
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Observation of Shear Wave Anisotropy in the Earth’s Inner Core
Coda-correlation wavefields reveal direction-dependent inner-core shear-wave speed, ~5 s faster in directions oblique to the Earth’s rotation axis than directions parallel to the equatorial plane.
Posted inNews
Can NASA’s Gravity Satellites Detect Motions in Earth’s Core?
Measurements of our planet’s gravitational field could expose processes in the fluid outer core—if scientists can decipher the signals.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Long-Term Sea Level Cycle Affects Predictions of Future Rise
New research confirms the existence of a regular, long-term fluctuation in sea level, perhaps caused by processes in Earth’s core.