Journey to the center of the Earth
Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - 14:10
in Earth & Climate
In an effort to investigate conditions found at the Earth's molten outer core, researchers successfully determined the density of liquid iron and sound propagation speed through it at extremely high pressures. They achieved this with use of a highly specialized diamond anvil which compresses samples, and sophisticated X-ray measurements. Their findings confirm the molten outer core is less dense than liquid iron and also put values on the discrepancy.