They find a piece of iron in the center of the earth. Its diameter reaches 650 kilometers

The Earth’s interior, as we know, is heterogeneous. It consists of several layers: the earth’s crust, mantle and core. Scientists from Australia decided to explore the innermost part of the Earth’s core in a previously unknown way. Share the results of their work on the pages Nature Communications.

Let us remind you that the most widely used method for studying the structure of the Earth’s interior is the analysis of the propagation of seismic waves, which are formed, among other things, by due to strong earthquakes. Various perturbations in the graphs indicate changes in the density of matter (molten rocks and alloys) at certain depths. However, researchers have noted in previous analyses that the question of the structure of the inner core is often overlooked.

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A piece of iron at the center of the earth. This is what the inner core looks like

Scientists’ approach to investing in the center of the Earth was a little different. They used seismic data from around the world on a global scale. They analyzed how they spread across the center of the Earth and studied their reflux, or reflux. It turns out that some types of waves can circle the planet’s interior many times. They found that the maximum of these waves bounces up to five times.

From this huge data set, it is concluded that the center of the Earth is an iron ball with a diameter of 650 kilometers, which is not heterogeneous. Not only the size, but also the extraordinary asymmetry of the central part of the inner core is striking to science that was not known before.

Read also: A revolution in understanding the structure of the Earth’s interior. An unknown area that “covers” the entire planet has been discovered

The inner core is a kind of time capsule that recalls the first stage of our planet’s formation more than 4 billion years ago. Compared to the shallower layers of the earth, it is small and occupies 1 percent. the size of our planet. In contrast to its outer shell, it is solid and made mostly of iron and nickel. The pressure in the inner core is unimaginably high and amounts to 13.5 million atmospheres.

Knowledge of Earth’s interior could also help explain the evolutionary history of other planets, both in our solar system and beyond.

Most importantly, the research by the Australians does not claim that the discovered iron ball is the entire inner core, but only its most central part.