Scientists from the University of Calgary in Canada have found that supersonic "rivers" of plasma, heated to 10 thousand degrees Celsius, flow in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. They are generated by large electric fields that are generated in the ionosphere. The study is reported by Science Alert.
More than a century ago, the Norwegian scientist Christian Birkeland suggested that the interaction of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field produces huge currents of electrical energy. They are located in the ionosphere - a layer of the atmosphere that extends at an altitude of 75 - thousand kilometers. The existence of the Birkeland currents responsible for the occurrence of auroras was confirmed in the 1970s.
Scientists analyzed data obtained by three Swarm satellites, whose orbit lies between the ionosphere and magnetosphere. They found that Birkland currents generate large electric fields, which in turn direct plasma streams to reach supersonic speeds.
According to scientists, a similar system exists in the outer core of the Earth. So, the Swarm satellites have discovered a river of molten iron flowing at a depth of three thousand kilometers under Alaska. The rate of this flow has tripled over the past two decades. The flow is also generated by the planet's magnetic fields.
