Something strange is happening beneath the surface of our planet and scientists are trying to figure it out. The iron core at Earth’s center is expanding by about a millimeter per year, as the molten iron in the outer core cools and solidifies. This process continues for many days. This process keeps Earth’s magnetic field moving and protects us from the damaging solar wind.
But the secret is that the inner core is growing unevenly. One direction is expanding faster than the other. This asymmetric growth has been going on for a long time. Scientists don’t know why this is happening or what effect it will have on Earth’s magnetic field.
To understand what’s going on, we need to know a bit about the Earth’s layers. The inner core is surrounded by the outer core, which is a layer of molten iron and nickel. This layer is surrounded by the mantle, which is made up of solid rock and is the thickest layer on Earth.
As the molten iron in the outer core cools and solidifies, it becomes the new layer of the inner core. This process is called crystallization and has been going on for a long time.
The uneven growth of the inner core may be related to the way heat is transferred through the Earth’s layers. In the subduction zone of Indonesia, tectonic plates collide and one plate moves beneath the other. As the cooler plate sinks into the mantle, it cools the surrounding rock and creates a temperature gradient. This gradient helps the deeper layers reduce their heat which helps solidify the inner core.
But why does this process happen on one side of the world more than the other? It is possible that the subduction zone beneath Indonesia is cooling the inner core more rapidly in that direction. However, it is also possible that there are other factors that scientists have not yet discovered.
The inner core has a radius of about 750 miles and a temperature of over 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a tiny layer compared to the rest of the Earth. As scientists continue to study the inner core and Earth’s magnetic field, everyone is hopeful that they will uncover new mysteries.