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Earth's innermost core discovery confirmed
Champaign, Ill. (UPI) Mar 13, 2008 U.S. geologists have created a three-dimensional model describing the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals within the Earth's innermost core. University of Illinois geologist Xiaodong Song and postdoctoral researcher Xinlei Sun discovered Earth's core, composed mainly of iron, consists of a solid inner core about 1,500 miles in diameter and a fluid outer core about 4,350 miles in diameter. The solid inner core is elastically anisotropic; that is, seismic waves have different speeds along different directions, the scientists said. "Our results suggest the outer inner core is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along Earth's spin axis," Sun said. "The inner, inner core may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment." The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, and is posted on its Web site. Related Links Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
The Secrets Of Successful Ecosystems
London, UK (SPX) Mar 13, 2008The productivity and biodiversity of an ecosystem is significantly affected by the rate at which organisms move between different parts of the ecosystem, according to new research out today (13 March 2008) in Nature. |
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