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Jan 25 16 8:28 AM
The power source for Earth's magnetic field may be magnesium that has been trapped in the core since our planet's violent birth, a new model suggests. Magnesium is the fourth most common element in the Earth's outer layers, but previously, scientists thought there was almost no magnesium in the core. Iron and magnesium don't easily mix, and researchers thought that the Earth's core was mostly iron. However, that thinking has changed because of recent theories proposing that the Earth was born from a series of violent collisions with other protoplanets. During the impacts, temperatures and pressures were so intense that iron and metal could combine in an alloy, according to a study published today (Jan. 20) in the journal Nature. The study authors add that smashing together two planetary bodies likely injected magnesium into the core. About 1 percent of the core (by weight) could be magnesium, the new model shows. [Religion and Science: 6 Visions of Earth's Core]
The power source for Earth's magnetic field may be magnesium that has been trapped in the core since our planet's violent birth, a new model suggests.
Magnesium is the fourth most common element in the Earth's outer layers, but previously, scientists thought there was almost no magnesium in the core. Iron and magnesium don't easily mix, and researchers thought that the Earth's core was mostly iron.
However, that thinking has changed because of recent theories proposing that the Earth was born from a series of violent collisions with other protoplanets. During the impacts, temperatures and pressures were so intense that iron and metal could combine in an alloy, according to a study published today (Jan. 20) in the journal Nature. The study authors add that smashing together two planetary bodies likely injected magnesium into the core. About 1 percent of the core (by weight) could be magnesium, the new model shows. [Religion and Science: 6 Visions of Earth's Core]
Read more @ http://www.livescience.com/53431-magnesium-powers-earth-magnetic-field.html
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