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Updated December 22nd, 2019 at 20:51 IST

Scientists reveal Earth's core is 'hot and snow-capped' with a layer of 'iron snow'

In a major scientific revelation, researchers on Saturday, have stated that the Earth's core is hot, under pressure and snow-capped, as per international report

Iron Snow
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In a major scientific revelation, researchers on Saturday, have stated that the Earth's core is hot, under pressure and snow-capped, as per international reports. The study led by Youjun Zhang - associate professor at Sichuan University in China and her team has discovered that the snow in the Earth's core is made of tiny particles of iron from the molten outer core and pile on top of the inner core. Scientists state that the pile covering the inner core us up to 200 miles thick.

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Who did the 'iron snow' study?

The study which will be published in  JGR Solid Earth on December 23, 2019, states that the research will help scientists understand the various forces - magnetic, electric, etc, affecting the earth. Scientists have claimed that this revelation is similar to how rocks form inside volcanoes. The team led by Zhang also consists of Jung-Fu Lin, a professor in the Jackson School of Geosciences- Texas, graduate student Peter Nelson from the Jackson School and Nick Dygert, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee.

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How did they theorize 'iron snow'?

Explaining how the scientists went about with the research, the study states that as the Earth's core cannot be physically sampled, the team studied by recording and analyzing signals from seismic waves as they pass through the Earth. They discovered that the waves move more slowly than expected as they passed through the base of the outer core, and they move faster than expected when moving through the top inner core. This observation reportedly led them to propose the iron snow-capped core as an explanation.

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Future scope of study

While previously, scientists had theorised that a slurry layer exists between the inner and outer core, later findings dismissed this theory based on prevalent heat and pressure conditions in the core environment. The 'iron-snow' theory has been based on recent findings that crystallization was possible and that 15% of the lowermost outer core could be made of iron-based crystals, which ultimately settle on top of the solid inner core. Scientists believe that this study will reportedly understand more on the generation of Earth's magnetic field to the core radiating the heat that drives the movement of tectonic plates and its physical composition.

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Published December 22nd, 2019 at 20:43 IST

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