Iron Atoms on the Move in Earth’s Inner Core

Atomic Motion Web
A model of iron atoms on the move in Earth’s inner core. The model demonstrates how iron atoms are expected to move about in the Earth’s inner core over 10 picoseconds. The model is based an AI algorithm accounting for tens of thousands atoms. One picosecond is one trillionth of a second. Figure: Zhang, et al.

The Earth’s solid inner core is a tightly packed place. But even here, there’s space for wiggle room. Researchers from the Jackson School of Geosciences and Sichuan University in China have found that certain groupings of iron atoms in the Earth’s inner core are able to move about rapidly, changing their position in a split second while maintaining the underlying metallic structure of the iron — a type of atomic movement called “collective motion.”

Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The results, which were informed by laboratory experiments and theoretical models, could help explain numerous intriguing properties of the inner core that have long vexed scientists. They could also help shed light on the role the inner core plays in powering Earth’s geodynamo, the elusive process that generates the planet’s magnetic field. “Now, we know about the fundamental mechanism that will help us with understanding the dynamic processes and evolution of the Earth’s inner core,” said Jung-Fu Lin, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and one of the study’s lead authors.

Back to the Newsletter