Science continues to ask new questions, challenging concepts that we have known for years.
One of the basic geographic concepts is that the Earth is divided into 4 layers: mantle, mantle, outer core and inner core. But recently published research indicates that Earth may be hiding another fifth layer that science has never known.
Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) say the new earth crust is in the inner core. Further analysis of this crust can help us better understand the history of the blue planet and its evolutionary stages.
About 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth formed. The journey begins with a solid core made up of collisions of heavy elements. Surrounding the solid inner core is an outer core made of a liquid alloy of iron and nickel, 2,180 km thick.
On the core is a mantle layer made up of silicate rocks rich in magnesium and iron, it is the thickest crust on Earth with a measurement of up to 2,900 km. The thinnest and most “brittle” layer is the crust, which is made up of oceanic and continental crust. The earth’s crust represents less than 1% of the volume of the blue planet.
And the newly discovered fifth layer
Scientists have long suspected the existence of a fifth mantle, with many claiming that the inner core is made up of two layers. It wasn’t until the ANU researchers analyzed the inner core that we had the first evidence to support this claim.
Scientific reports show that at a depth of 5,800 km from the Earth’s surface, the structure of iron has changed considerably. The inner core is a solid core, the enormous pressure in the center of the Earth makes it impossible for iron to flow. However, new research shows that the inner core has two different iron structures, which means the inner core is made up of two separate iron layers.
According to Salon, this discovery leads scientists to believe that the change in the structure of the nucleus was caused by a major event in Earth’s history. More research is still needed to learn more about how the Earth formed and why the planet’s core “split” into two halves.
“The details of this massive event remain a mystery, but we have also raised new questions regarding our understanding of Earth’s inner core,” Joanne Stephenson, who led the new study, told reporters.
