Within the Earth , there is a thin layer just around the liquified metal of the outer core . Its origin has been uncertain for decades , but researchers now believe that the cause of it is to be find right here : It ’s the water system on the surface that cause that specialisation to take post in the first place . This is unmanageable to explain by assuming the absorption of a single element dropping there , but it could be explained if a far-flung chemical substance reaction is taking place .
The water system is not dripping for thousands of klick down a plug hole . It is being carried down by go down architectonic plates , and eventually reaches thecoreafter a journeying of 2,900 klick ( 1,800 miles ) . The mental process is slow , but over billions of age , water from the surface has altered the boundary between the bottom of the mantle and the top of the nucleus .
The hydrogen - racy silicate - wipe out layer is about a few hundred kilometer thick-skulled , basically filmlike given that the core is 6,970 km ( 4,330 miles ) across . The water adjustment scenario has this modified bed of fluid - metal last up in reaction that create silica crystals that move into the mantle . It also look the layer to be less dull with lower seismic velocity , something that has been measured by geologist .
“ For twelvemonth , it has been believed that material substitution between Earth ’s core and mantle is small . Yet , our late high - pressure level experiments reveal a different report . We found that when weewee reaches the core - mantle boundary , it reacts with silicon in the core group , forming silica , " co - writer Dr Dan Shim , of Arizona State University , said in astatement .
" This discovery , along with our previous observation of adamant forming from water supply oppose with C in iron liquidity under extreme air pressure , points to a far more dynamic nitty-gritty - mantle interaction , suggest significant textile substitution . ”
There is much that we do n’t know about the deep inside of our major planet . More precise seismic data collected from quake full-grown and small , as well as better simulations , have let on new contingent of the Interior Department of our satellite .
Only recently , researchers have found evidence that two regions around the core group were left over fromthe planetary collisionthat form the Moon .
A newspaper describe this scenario is publish in the journalNature Geoscience .
