Uh, Earth’s Inner Core Just Stopped Spinning

Popular Mechanics ^ | 2/15/23

[EBH]

A new study published in Nature Geoscience by geophysicists Yi Yang and Xiadong Song of Peking University in Beijing explored the nature of movement of Earth’s inner core, largely made up of iron and molten liquids. They found the inner core’s movement recently reduced enough they consider it “paused,” all part of what “seems to be associated with a gradual turning back of the inner core as a part of an approximately seven-decade oscillation.”

The last turning point was in the early 1970s.

The new study further tracked seismic waves through the core to see how they played out on the other side of Earth. “This globally consistent pattern suggests that inner-core rotation has recently paused,” the study says.

With the spin changing throughout the decades, the authors believe there’s an interplay between the spinning of the core and Earth’s mantle, and not just a spinning core for spinning’s sake.

“This multidecadal periodicity coincides with changes in several other geophysical observations especially the length of day and magnetic field,” the authors write. “These observations provide evidence for dynamic interactions between the Earth's layers, from the deepest interior to the surface, potentially due to gravitational coupling, and the exchange of angular momentum from the core and mantle to the surface.”

[waterhill]

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