Earth’s core rotates back and forth over a mile every six years, scientists say
1Earth’s core rotates back and forth over a mile every six years, scientists say
FORGET satisfied lovers, the Earth is moving under all our feet, research says.
They carried out a seismic study of the planet’s mysterious centre — a huge iron ball as hot as the sun and around 3,000 miles under us.
The researchers found the strange oscillation affects the rotation of the Earth and explains variations in the length of our days.
The inner core — which is the size of Pluto — cannot be observed directly.
So a US team used seismic data from 1969 to 1974 to create a computer model of it.
Prof John Vidale, of the University of Southern California, said: “Our latest observations show the inner core spun slightly slower from 1969-71 and then moved in the other direction from 1971-74.
“We also note that the length of day grew and shrank as would be predicted. The coincidence of those two observations makes oscillation the likely interpretation.”
Science’s understanding of our inner core has expanded dramatically in the past 30 years.
Prof Vidale said: “We are trying to understand how the inner core formed and how it moves over time.”