US geologists said that our idea of the Earth's inner core is probably not true, since such a scenario is contrary to the laws of physics.
The inner core of our planet is the deepest part of it. Seismological observations show that it is a solid ball with a radius of approximately 1220 km. This corresponds to 70% of the moon's radius. Scientists believe that the core is composed of an iron-nickel alloy and a number of light elements. The temperature at the border of the inner core is estimated at about 5700 K (5400 ° C).
In the distant "youth" of our planet, its core was completely liquid. This raises a number of scientific questions. As we know, some liquids, if there are no impurities, microscopic ice crystals or powerful vibrations in them, remain liquid at temperatures well below the freezing point. In other words, if such a liquid is shaken a little, it will freeze. Geologists believe that a similar process took place about 4.2 billion years ago inside the earth's core, when part of it crystallized.
Now James Van Orman and other American geologists have carried out computer simulations of this process. Calculations have shown that the crystallization of rocks in the inner core of our planet has significant differences from the behavior of water and other supercooled liquids. If its composition was homogeneous, matter simply would not be able to cool down to the required temperatures at which the formation of a nucleus in our current understanding would become possible.
Thus, according to scientists, two options remain: either the planet's core is completely frozen, or it still remains completely liquid. Meanwhile, none of these scenarios is also true, since we know that the planet has an inner solid and an outer liquid core. The American geologists cannot yet resolve the paradox. They propose to study the possibility of the formation of a large "piece" of iron in the planetary mantle with its subsequent "drowning" in the core. If this option also does not work, you will have to look for some other explanation.
General structure of the planet Earth / wikipedia.
Earlier, we recall, another group of scientists came to the conclusion that the Earth's core may not be as iron as previously thought. New estimates of its density suggest that it may consist of light elements by 4–5%. Moreover, the appearance of the latter has yet to be explained.
Ilya Vedmedenko
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