The Earth's Core-Running Cold

 

Running Cold

In the science-fiction movie “The Core,” Earth’s core stopped rotating and scientists need to restart it in order to save humanity.

Now, a research team came across some ominous findings about the state of the Earth’s core, Newsweek reported.

In their paper, lead author Motohiko Murakami and his colleagues analyzed the conductivity of bridgmanite, a material found in great quantities between the planet’s core and mantle – an area known as the Core-Mantle-Boundary (CMB).

The team found that bridgmanite is about 1.5 times more conductive of heat than previously thought, which has some important implications for the planet’s future.

Murakami explained that it means the high temperatures at the center of the world are quickly transferring to the outer areas, suggesting that the Earth’s core is cooling “more rapidly than expected.”

He explained that this phenomenon could impact convection currents of the mantle that drive the movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. Eventually, the cooling could cause the currents to slow down, decreasing tectonic activity and reducing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Consequently, Earth could become a geologically dead planet akin to Mars: The red planet’s core became inactive a long time ago and ended many key processes, including the activity of the magnetic field.

Murakami posited that this could happen on Earth, but it could take “millions or even billions of years.”

“How long the Earth would remain dynamically active would be definitely one of the biggest issues that we have to tackle,” he cautioned.