New Evidence Shows Earth’s Core is Changing Shape

[Elderberry]

Legal Insurrection by Leslie Eastman 2/18/2025

Meanwhile, Earth’s magnetic north pole is still on the move, and scientists have updated its position.

One thing about science is that it is never “settled.”

New research uncovered new evidence that requires jettisoning old theories and adopting new explanations for observed phenomena.

Take the Earth’s core, for example. Once thought to be essentially “solid,” it appears that the center of our planet is more dynamic than originally thought.

    Scientists have discovered that the inner core’s surface is changing shape, challenging previous assumptions about its solid nature. This dynamic activity could influence Earth’s rotation and magnetic field

    Deep within the Earth, a dramatic transformation is underway. A new study from the University of Southern California (USC), published in Nature Geoscience, has revealed evidence of significant structural changes occurring near the surface of Earth’s inner core.

    This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the inner core’s composition and opens new avenues for understanding the planet’s dynamics, including its rotation, magnetic field, and thermal history. The findings suggest that the inner core, previously thought to be a solid sphere, is far more dynamic and susceptible to change than previously imagined.

    The inner core was previously thought of as solid.

    Earth's inner core is changing.

More: https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/new-evidence-shows-earths-core-is-changing-shape/

[DefiantMassRINO]

So, once again 'settled' science isn't so settled.

[Smokin Joe]

With the heat and pressure of the rest of the planet upon it, I'd expect it to be more the consistency of Silly Putty than a solid. Component density and gravity would keep that blob pretty much spherical (although it may actually be more of an oblate spheroid due to rotational effects) but variations would likely occur due to thermal peturbations within the mass.

[DB]

With the heat and pressure of the rest of the planet upon it, I'd expect it to be more the consistency of Silly Putty than a solid. Component density and gravity would keep that blob pretty much spherical (although it may actually be more of an oblate spheroid due to rotational effects) but variations would likely occur due to thermal peturbations within the mass.

I would think chemical variations would also change density causing variations in shape.

[Smokin Joe]

I would think chemical variations would also change density causing variations in shape.

There may be some nuclear reactions going on down there, localized and short term, relatively (geologically) speaking, and the percolation of daughter products out of that hot zone would do that. I would expect rather limited lighter remnants in the inner core after the Iron Catastrophe (early density stratification of the planet, before the crust had even solidified, some 4.5-3.7 billion years ago). They have had a long time to percolate into the outer core or the mantle and even to the crust.

[DB]

There may be some nuclear reactions going on down there, localized and short term, relatively (geologically) speaking, and the percolation of daughter products out of that hot zone would do that. I would expect rather limited lighter remnants in the inner core after the Iron Catastrophe (early density stratification of the planet, before the crust had even solidified, some 4.5-3.7 billion years ago). They have had a long time to percolate into the outer core or the mantle and even to the crust.

As I understand it the crust is constantly being recycled as well. Where plates meet and one is pushing under the other is modifying the chemistry where that bottom curst material is melting back in.

[Smokin Joe]

As I understand it the crust is constantly being recycled as well. Where plates meet and one is pushing under the other is modifying the chemistry where that bottom curst material is melting back in.

Yes, but that crust doesn't get beyond the upper Mantle. It may be recycled, but it's still a long way from the core.