A group of scientists discovered a ‘metallic ball’ in the Earth’s Core, a fact that changes everything that was thought to be known about the composition of our planet
According to the study published in the journal Nature by researchers from ‘The Australian National University’ (ANU), planet Earth has a metallic sphere composed of iron at its core with an approximate size of 650 kilometers in radius.
The existence of this ‘ball’ was discovered through the analysis of seismic waves that propagate through the interior of our world.
The researchers noticed that, like a ping-pong ball, this sphere moves independently of the rest of the inner core, with its own speed and direction.
This discovery changes the previous theory that the Earth’s core is composed of four main layers: the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. Now the option of five is contemplated.
The inner core of the planet would have different materials and compositions according to the evidence provided by the scientists in the study ‘Reverberating waves of up to five times through the center of the Earth and the clearly anisotropic inner core’, published in the journal Nature.
The importance of this finding lies in the fact that the inner core of the Earth is one of the least understood regions of our planet. By understanding its composition and behavior, we can obtain valuable information about the formation and evolution of the celestial body.
Experts also believe that this discovery could help explain anomalies in the Earth’s magnetic field.
As they explain, the seismic waves that travel through the inner core are affected by the presence of the metallic ‘ball’, which may explain fluctuations in the magnetic field.