Key Points
This finding, published in the journal Nature, resolves a long-standing debate within the scientific community regarding the movement of our planet's innermost layer...
Scientists from the University of Southern California (USC) have made a groundbreaking discovery the Earth's inner core has been slowing down in relation to the planet's surface since around 2010...
Earth has four main layers: the solid inner core, composed of iron and nickel; the liquid outer core, which generates the magnetic field; the viscous mantle, with convection currents driving plate tectonics; and the thin, solid crust, where life exists and geological activity occurs...
According to Vidale, the inner core's deceleration is caused by the churning of the liquid outer core, which generates Earth's magnetic field, and gravitational tugs from the dense regions of the overlying rocky mantle...
The study not only resolves a long-standing scientific debate but also opens up new avenues for understanding the intricate dynamics of our planet's interior, with potential implications for Earth's magnetic field and rotational patterns...
