It is an
explanation, yet I do not particularly trust it. It is a little too glib and ignores polarity
reversal and generally presumes the magnetic dynamo model which also looks good
on first glance. Let us simply
understand it as speculative theory in want of an alternative speculative
theory. There is plenty of that going
around in the world of empirical science.
What they really
mean here is that the magnetic effect postulated is sufficient to cause balanced
acceleration in east west directions. This
is a worthy conjecture that now needs to somehow be confirmed.
All good stuff and
may help. My alternative conjecture
allows us to use a conductive shell of liquid carbon as our field generator and
reduce the mass that needs to move for crustal movement generally and allows
easy pole reversal. As evidence we have
the pole reversals, the non-homogenous magnetic surface field and the kimberlitic
pipes evidencing carbon jets cutting to the surface at high velocity.
New
research shows Earth’s core spins in opposite directions
According to new research from UK and
Swiss scientists, the core of our planet is more complicated than we thought,
with layers rotating in different directions, and it all may solve a mystery
about the Earth's magnetic field that's persisted for over 300 years.
The Earth's core
is separated into two different layers. At the centre is the solid inner core,
which is surrounded by the liquid outer core — both made up of a mixture of nickel and iron. Scientists
figured out the structure of the two layers decades ago, based on watching
seismic waves from earthquakes passing through the planet, and they also
discovered that it is circulations in the hot, liquid metal of the outer core
that generate the Earth's
magnetic field.
There are some
things about the core that have remained a mystery, though. A study from 2005
revealed that, although the inner core rotates in the same direction as the
surface, it actually rotates slightly faster than the surface. That strange result joins another curious finding, from
back in 1692,when astronomer Edmond Halley (of Halley's Comet fame) discovered that
the Earth's magnetic field 'drifts' towards the west by a few degrees every decade.
A new study has finally offered an explanation for these two mysteries,
tying everything together at last.
It started with
researchers not only confirming that the inner core rotates faster than the
surface, but also finding that the outer core rotates in the opposite
direction. To find out what's going on, they used the Monte Rose supercomputer to run a
simulation that was roughly 100 times more accurate than any previous model of
the Earth's core. The simulation revealed that it's the Earth's magnetic field
that's causing the layers of the core to spin like they do. It's providing an
extra little push to the inner core, driving the added spin towards the east,
while at the same time an equal and
opposite reaction to that push
is causing the 'backward' spin of the outer core towards the west.
The added bonus
from their simulation is that it solved Halley's mystery as well. Since the
outer core slowly rotates towards the west, the circulations within the liquid
metal also rotate in that direction, and the magnetic field 'drifts' along with
them.
The researchers
are hoping that all of this will help scientists to better understand the
behaviour of the core, and thus the planet's magnetic field.
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