Scientists calculated the diameter of Earth's innermost core using earthquake waves that bounced through the planet 'like ping-pong balls.'
Scientists have harnessed powerful waves from earthquakes to measure Earth's innermost layer and found that our planet's center is a 450-mile-wide ball of solid iron-nickel alloy.
When an earthquake strikes, it triggers waves of energy that move through rock. These waves move at different speeds based on the kinds of minerals the rock is made of and whether the rock is more rigid or soft. Certain kinds of seismic waves can't move through liquid, so they bounce off a liquid layer. Studying the way seismic waves move through Earth can reveal what distinct layers exist deep below the planet's surface.
In particular, seismic waves from a magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck near the Solomon Islands in 2017 reverberated across Earth's entire diameter several times. Seismic networks in the Alaskan Peninsula and European Alps helped the researchers see the reverberating waves, and these bouncing waves enabled the researchers to observe the two distinct layers within Earth's inner core.
"This study strengthens the evidence for the existence of an internal metallic ball with a distinct texture from the outer shell of Earth's inner core," Pham said.
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