New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field. Swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s outer core, located approximately 1,800 miles beneath our feet, generates our planet’s protective magnetic field, called the magn
A depiction of Earth, first without an inner core; second, with an inner core beginning to grow, around 550 million years ago; third, with an outermost and innermost inner core, around 450 million years ago. University of Rochester researchers used paleomagnetism to determine these two key dates in the history of the inner core, which they believe restored the planet’s magnetic field just before the explosion of life on Earth.
However, about 565 million years ago, the magnetic field’s strength dropped to 10 percent of its strength today. Then, mysteriously, the magnetic field bounced back, regaining its strength just before the Cambrian explosion of multicellular life on Earth.This rejuvenation happened within a few tens of millions of years according to new research from scientists at the University of Rochester.
Because of the magnetic field’s relationship to Earth’s core, scientists have been attempting for decades to ascertain how Earth’s magnetic field and core have changed throughout our planet’s history. They cannot directly measure the magnetic field due to the location and extreme temperatures of materials in the core.
“Because we constrained the inner core’s age more accurately, we could explore the fact that the present-day inner core is actually composed of two parts,” Tarduno says. “Plate tectonic movements on Earth’s surface indirectly affected the inner core, and the history of these movements is imprinted deep within Earth in the inner core’s structure.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mars rocks photographed today give a glimpse into a fascinating worldIt wasn't that long ago that humans had no idea what it was like on the surface of Mars. Skywatchers have known for millennia — at least — that the tiny orange dot moves across the night sky in huge loops that look like illegible cursive writing.
Read more »
New Instrument Could Spy Signs of Alien Life in Glowing RocksOrganisms on Earth produce a wide array of durable “biofluorescent” materials. If those on other planets do, too, the Compact Color Biofinder should be able to detect them
Read more »
7-magnitude earthquake rocks northern Philippines, killing at least 5 and triggering landslides'It was the most powerful quake I've felt and I thought the ground would open up,' one officer said.
Read more »
NASA to launch 2 more choppers to Mars to help return rocksCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is launching two more mini helicopters to Mars in its effort to return Martian rocks and soil samples to Earth. Under the plan announced Wednesday, NASA’s Perseverance rover will do double duty and transport the cache to the rocket that will launch them off the red planet a decade from now.
Read more »
Elwha On The Rocks: Washington Ferry Crash Inspired Song and DrinkOne of the most infamous episodes in Washington State Ferry System history began with a typical run out of Anacortes, late one Sunday afternoon in October 1983.
Read more »