Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/07/2023
3:30 pm
Location
Virtual Event
Category(ies)
Is Earth’s Core Young at Heart? (Photo – Carnegie Science)
Learn about the search for inner core formation using paleomagnetism and dynamo theory.
Earth’s inner core, a solid sphere of iron located in the center of the planet, is the most remote part of the planet but may hold the key to unlocking Earth’s history. We believe the inner core is growing slowly as the core cools over time, and that its growth is critical to powering the geodynamo, which produces Earth’s magnetic field. In the last decade significant progress has been made in understanding the physics of inner core solidification, but its nucleation age (the time when it first began to solidify) remains a mystery.
In this talk, Dr. Driscoll will describe how the latest theoretical models and paleomagnetic observations are honing in on this outstanding problem, and why a “young” inner core may imply that the geodynamo came close to its death 600 million years ago.
> To register to attend online, click here.
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