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A research team from the University of Illinois and colleagues at Nanjing University in China, found earth’s inner core has an inner core of its own, with crystals aligned in a different direction.
In the inner-inner core, the iron crystals point roughly east-west. However the iron crystals in the outer layer of the inner core are aligned directionally, north-south. The inner-inner core is about half the diameter of the whole inner core. The study analysed Seismic data from earthquakes, and found surprising properties that could reveal information about the planet and the role of the inner-inner core.
Phys.org reports: Led by Xiaodong Song, a professor of geology at the U. of I., and visiting postdoctoral researcher Tao Wang, the team published its work in the journal Nature Geoscience on Feb. 9.
“Even though the inner core is small – smaller than the moon – it has some really interesting features,” said Song. “It may tell us about how our planet formed, its history, and other dynamic processes of the Earth. It shapes our understanding of what’s going on deep inside the Earth.”