: Scientists discover new layer at Earths inner core #IndiaNEWS #Technology Sydney, Feb 25 (IANS) A team of researchers has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core.

@IndiaNEWS

Posted in: #IndiaNEWS #Technology

Scientists discover new layer at Earths inner core #IndiaNEWS #Technology
Sydney, Feb 25 (IANS) A team of researchers has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core.
According to seismologists from The Australian National University (ANU), data gathered from seismic waves caused by earthquakes has shed new light on the deepest parts of the Earths inner core.
The researchers believe they have documented evidence of a distinct layer inside Earth known as the innermost inner core, a solid metallic ball that sits within the centre of the inner core, by measuring the different speeds at which these waves penetrate and pass through the Earths inner core.
Earlier, it was thought the Earths structure comprised four distinct layers the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core, but the current findings confirm there is a fifth layer.
The existence of an internal metallic ball within the inner core, the innermost inner core, was hypothesised about 20 years ago. We now provide another line of evidence to prove the hypothesis, said Thanh-Son Phaim, from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.
The scientists looked at seismic waves that travel directly through the Earths core and spit out on the opposite side of the globe from where the earthquake occurred, also known as the antipode.
The waves then return to the epicentre of the quake.
The researchers from the ANU compare the process to a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth.
By developing a technique to boost the signals recorded by densely populated seismograph networks, we observed, for the first time, seismic waves that bounce back and forth up to five times along the Earths diameter. Previous studies have documented only a single antipodal bounce, Phaim said.
The findings are exciting because they provide a new way to probe the Earths inner core and its centre-most region, he added
IANS
shs/pgh

Intraday stocks under 50 NSE India Twitter of India

Vote Up Vote Down

Login to post a comment!