Geophysicists detect widespread structures near the Earth’s core

Geophysicists detect widespread structures near the Earth’s core

Geophysicists from the University of Maryland made the first analysis of seismic echoes from hundreds of earthquakes at once, unveiling more widespread, heterogenous structures at the core-mantle boundary than previously known. Past studies were limited to single…

“Quartz” crystals at the Earth’s core power its magnetic field

“Quartz” crystals at the Earth’s core power its magnetic field

Scientists at the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Tokyo Institute of Technology reported in Nature yesterday their unexpected discoveries about the Earth's core. The findings include insights into the source of energy driving the Earth's magnetic field,…

Accelerating high-latitude jet stream discovered in Earth’s core

Accelerating high-latitude jet stream discovered in Earth’s core

Scientists using data obtained by ESA's Swarm constellation of satellites have discovered a jet stream in the liquid iron part of Earth’s core 3 000 km (1 864 miles) beneath the surface. In addition, Swarm satellite data show that this jet stream is…

Hotspots driving tectonic plate movement

Hotspots driving tectonic plate movement

Plate tectonics has been on the curriculum for a while now. Most people are fairly familiar with the theory; the Earth's crust – or lithosphere – is broken up into different plates which move around on the very hot, viscous substance beneath.This movement is driven

Source of Hawaii volcanism found

Source of Hawaii volcanism found

For years, researchers have debated whether or not the Hawaiian hot spot — the active volcanic region that created the islands — is fueled by a plume of hot magma rising straight up from the Earth's depths. Not so, new research finds. Instead, a giant, d