The Earth’s Core Turns Out to be a Solid Nickel Iron Alloy Measuring 725 Km

CANBERRA – Geophysic scientists at the National University Australia in Canberra stated that the Earth’s core is a solid iron-nickel alloy measuring 725 Kilometers (Km). This data is obtained by scientists by calculating the diameter of the innermost core Earth using earthquake waves that bounce like a ping-pong ball.

Previously, many researchers believed that the Earth had four distinct layers: the crust, the mantle, a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. But in recent decades, scientists have proposed that the inner core is actually made up of two layers, which are referred to as the inner core and innermost core.

Now, in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications Tuesday, February 21, researchers looked at earthquake, or seismic, wave data from around the world to measure this innermost core. When an earthquake occurs, it triggers a wave of energy that travels through the rocks.

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These waves travel at different speeds depending on the type of minerals that make up the rock and whether the rock is stiffer or softer. Certain types of seismic waves cannot travel through liquids, so they reflect off layers of liquid.

Studying how seismic waves travel through Earth can reveal different layers that exist deep beneath the planet’s surface. For example, scientists have previously used seismic waves to find liquid iron swirling in Earth’s outer core, which creates the planet’s magnetic field.

The seismic waves also exposed the inner core, which, despite being hot, remains solid under immense pressure. In the new paper, the researchers observed, for the first time, seismic waves bouncing back and forth from a strong earthquake to the other side of the world, like a ping-pong ball.

In particular, the seismic waves from the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that occurred near the Solomon Islands in 2017 reverberated across the entire diameter of the earth several times. Seismic networks over the Alaska Peninsula and the European Alps are helping researchers see the echoing waves.

Also read; The Earth Has A Hidden Layer That Scientists Can’t Solve