As of: January 31, 2024, 12:27 p.m
By: Kilian Bäuml
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New research results could fundamentally change our understanding of the Earth's interior.
The Earth's core is said to "wobble" about every 8.5 years.
Wuhan - During various measurements on the earth's surface, researchers have detected recurring oscillations deep in the earth's core.
During the study, the research team led by geoscientists Yachong An and Hao Ding from Wuhan University observed that the movement of the Earth's poles and even the length of the days change slightly.
In a study published in the journal Nature
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, scientists suspect that the Earth's core wobbles about every 8.5 years.
The Earth's interior is active: the Earth's core is said to "wobble" about every 8.5 years.
Most people probably assume that the Earth rotates once every day of the year.
But small fluctuations occur again and again, which are caused by the activity inside the Earth.
Another study even comes to the conclusion that the Earth has already changed the direction of rotation several times, which is also reflected in the length of the days.
The interior of the earth
The earth is made up of different layers.
Its core is made of molten rock and metal, which becomes denser and heavier at its core.
The Earth's core is a hot, dense sphere with a diameter of around 2,450 kilometers - larger than the dwarf planet Pluto.
The Earth's core is, in a sense, the heart of the planet.
The Earth's core and the liquid layer that surrounds it create a magnetic field that protects the Earth.
Because the activity inside the Earth affects life on the Earth's surface, researchers are very interested in any abnormalities in the Earth's core.
However, because the Earth's core cannot be measured directly, scientists must rely on indirect measurements based on data from the surface.
Seismic waves are also evaluated for this purpose.
The Earth's core and mantle have different inclinations - possible cause of the oscillations
As early as 2019, a research team led by Ding noticed a movement in the Earth's core that, according to the status at the time, lasted around 8.7 years.
At this point, the researcher already suspected that this movement could be a wobbling of the Earth's core.
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After their discovery, researchers looked for changes in the Earth's rotation to support their theory of recurring oscillations of the Earth's core.
During their measurements, the scientists discovered that the Earth's core has an inclination of 0.17 degrees relative to the Earth's mantle.
Previous research suggested an even greater tilt of up to 10 degrees.
The new results could fundamentally change our understanding of the Earth's interior.
New research suggests that the Earth “shakes” about every 8.5 years (symbolic image) © Claudia Nass/Imago
Research on the Earth's core: Many processes remain unexplained
This means that the axis of rotation and the Earth's mantle are not completely in line.
According to the researchers' calculations, this difference causes a wobble to occur approximately every 8.5 years.
It also suggests that the Earth's core is denser in the northwestern hemisphere - a strange phenomenon already known from seismological data.
Some researchers even suspect that there are remnants of another planet in the Earth's interior.
The scientists' findings suggest that the density between the Earth's interior and exterior also differs more than previously assumed.
This could affect the movements of the Earth's liquid core and thus even influence the Earth's magnetic field.
External influences can affect the earth's axis; according to researchers, the earth has tilted off its axis in the last 25 years.
Another research team found that the Earth's mantle is more permeable than previously thought.
However, research does not yet understand many processes inside the Earth, so further studies into the activities of the Earth's core are urgently needed.