2024 Study Finds Earth’s Inner Core Slowed, May Rotate Backward 5,000 Kilometers Down
Updated
Updated · Bored Panda · Jun 20
2024 Study Finds Earth’s Inner Core Slowed, May Rotate Backward 5,000 Kilometers Down
2 articles · Updated · Bored Panda · Jun 20
Summary
A 2024 seismic study found Earth’s solid inner core slowed around 2010 and may now be rotating slightly backward relative to the planet’s surface.
About 5,000 kilometers beneath Earth, the iron-nickel core normally turns at a slightly different rate than the mantle and crust; researchers tracked the shift by analyzing decades of earthquake data.
Scientists linked the slowdown to interactions among the inner core, the surrounding liquid outer core, and Earth’s magnetic and gravitational forces.
The effect on daily life would be tiny: the change could alter the length of a day only by fractions of a second.