Researchers discovered Iron Jet Stream in Earth's Core: It might lead to Polarity Reversal

  • comments
  • print
  • email
Dec 22, 2016 10:43 AM EST

Earth's core is amount 6,300 KMs into the crust and that is where the scientists have found the origin of the Jet Stream. The University of Leeds led a team of researchers to carry out experiments with the latest X-Ray view of the planet using the latest satellite on the space and found out Iron jet stream along with the boundary between two different regions of the molten core.

As per research extracts published by Times of India, the researchers found out that the reason behind the jet stream is because of liquid squeezing out sideways along the boundaries of two regions. Swarm Satellites was launched by the European Space Agency and is equipt with X-Ray scanner which is capable of the sharpest X-Ray image of the core. Phil Livermore, lead researcher of the team commented that they failed to detect the jet stream at the first sight, however, they have understood the reason why it exists.

The core is 3,000 KMs under rocks which had always fantasized researchers to find more information about it. Earlier, the only option to collect data from the core was its magnetic field which depicts the displacement of the outer core was faster in the northern hemisphere especially under Siberia and Alaska, however, researchers with the help of Swarm Satellites found out that the jet stream is actually the cause of changes. The displacement is more than 40 KM per year.

BBC.com escalated that the Jet Stream is about 420KM wide. The boundaries that were detected having Jetstream is named as Tangent Cylinder. Buoyancy provides the force required for shifting outer core and squeeze out the liquid that creates Jetstream which is the reason for changes in the magnetic field as per the latest research.

The Swarm Satellites were launched in November 2013 and are working towards providing X-Ray images about the core and its changes. The research focuses on finding the reason of weakening of magnetic field. Scientists believe that soon, polarity reversal might occur which will switch the North Pole into the South Pole and the South Pole into the North Pole.

Join the Conversation
Real Time Analytics