Paris France.- the core of the eartha hot sphere the size of Pluto, has reversed its rotation, according to a recently published study.
This “planet within a planet”, some 5,000 km from the surface and made up essentially of iron, which stopped turning and would even be turning to the other side, suggests this study released by Nature Geoscience.
The exact mechanism of rotation of this sphere, free of movement since it floats in the liquid of the outer core, remains difficult to decipher. The little that is known is based on the analysis of seismic waves, caused by earthquakes, when they pass through the center of the planet.
By analyzing seismic wave data over the past six decades, Xiaodong Song and Yi Yang of Peking University concluded that core rotation “almost stopped around 2009 and then turned in the opposite direction“.
“We think that the central nucleus is, with respect to the Earth’s surface, rotating in one direction and then in the other, like a seesaw”they told AFP. “A complete cycle (in one direction and in the other) of this movement lasts about seven decades”according to the researchers.
It is important to mention that Chinese scientists they have not discovered the cause of this change in the rotation of the nucleus, but it is believed that it may be related to the changes in the length of the day, tiny variations in the exact time that the Earth needs to rotate on its axis. However, a direct relationship between these changes and the movement of the nucleus has not been found, but it is believed that they may be related.
The last rotation change, prior to this one in 2009, had occurred in the early 1970s. And the next one will take place in the mid-2040s, completing the cycle, according to Chinese scientists.
To date, there are few indications about the influence of this rotation on the Earth’s surface. But the two authors are convinced that there are physical links between all the layers that make up the Earth.
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As the data continues to be investigated and analyzed, it is expected to obtain more information about how the core interacts with the other layers of the Earth and how this affects geological and climatic processes on the surface.
With information from AFP
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