Researchers say Earth’s core is cooling faster than previously thought

According to the researchers, Earth’s core is cooling at a faster rate than previously thought, which could accelerate the planet’s inevitable move toward uninhabitable millions or billions of years from now.

Earth’s interior has cooled gradually over the 4.5 billion years of its existence – a generally favorable pattern as the planet evolved into today’s green paradise, where humans have thrived for the last 200,000 years or so.

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The scientists wrote in a research paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

But how quickly this process occurs is the subject of ongoing research.

A group of scientists have studied bridgemanite, a common conductive mineral found between the Earth’s core and mantle.

They found that it was 1.5 times more conductive than previously thought, meaning Earth’s cooling process may also be faster than previously thought.

“We found that the bulk thermal conductivity at the core-mantle boundary to be 1.5 times higher than the traditionally assumed value, which favors higher heat flow from the core, and thus convection in the mantle is more energetic than expected,” added the researchers. .

“The results suggest that the mantle cooled more efficiently, ultimately attenuating much of the convection-driven tectonic activity in the mantle more rapidly than would be expected from conventional thermal conduction behavior.”