No more beef

[Dave Hounddriver]

I can prove that most scientists believe we have global cooling.  Check this out.

Quote

The Earth's inner core is thought to be slowly growing as the liquid outer core at the boundary with the inner core cools and solidifies due to the gradual cooling of the Earth's interior (about 100 degrees Celsius per billion years).

But the same source says that scientists believed the earth's core was solid iron as early as 80 years ago.  I wonder what they will think 80 years from now?

[Kuya John]

11 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I wonder what they will think 80 years from now?

Who knows Dave, all I know is my grandson will be 90 and wants to be a space traveller

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 8/24/2019 at 5:30 PM, Dave Hounddriver said:

I wonder what they will think 80 years from now?

Computers will do all the thinking. Humans will be just empty shells 

[Gary D]

On 8/24/2019 at 10:30 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

I can prove that most scientists believe we have global cooling.  Check this out.

But the same source says that scientists believed the earth's core was solid iron as early as 80 years ago.  I wonder what they will think 80 years from now?

I think you must have missed a few zero there. The earths core is crystallized iron and solid due the the immense pressure so has been solid as long as the earth has existed.

[Tommy T.]

54 minutes ago, Gary D said:

I think you must have missed a few zero there. The earths core is crystallized iron and solid due the the immense pressure so has been solid as long as the earth has existed.

Adding to your post, Gary... You are very right. However, it seems you might not be 100% correct on the timing of the core solidifying, but what are a few billion years between friends?

Oh, and the growth of the inner core is said to be about 1 mm/year. So I think Dave's quoted data was mostly correct but maybe his interpretation of it was not quite all correct?

 This from National Geographic online:

Outer Core

 

The outer core, about 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) thick, is mostly composed of liquid iron and nickel. The NiFe alloy of the outer core is very hot, between 4,500° and 5,500° Celsius (8,132° and 9,932° Fahrenheit). 

 

The liquid metal of the outer core has very low viscosity, meaning it is easily deformed and malleable. It is the site of violent convection. The churning metal of the outer core creates and sustains Earth’s magnetic field.

 

The hottest part of the core is actually the Bullen discontinuity, where temperatures reach 6,000° Celsius (10,800° Fahrenheit)—as hot as the surface of the sun.

 

Inner Core

 

The inner core is a hot, dense ball of (mostly) iron. It has a radius of about 1,220 kilometers (758 miles). Temperature in the inner core is about 5,200° Celsius (9,392° Fahrenheit). The pressure is nearly 3.6 million atmosphere (atm).

 

The temperature of the inner core is far above the melting point of iron. However, unlike the outer core, the inner core is not liquid or even molten. The inner core’s intense pressure—the entire rest of the planet and its atmosphere—prevents the iron from melting. The pressure and density are simply too great for the iron atoms to move into a liquid state. Because of this unusual set of circumstances, some geophysicists prefer to interpretthe inner core not as a solid, but as a plasma behaving as a solid.

 

The liquid outer core separates the inner core from the rest of the Earth, and as a result, the inner core rotates a little differently than the rest of the planet. It rotates eastward, like the surface, but it’s a little faster, making an extra rotation about every 1,000 years. 

 

Geoscientists think that the iron crystals in the inner core are arranged in an “hcp” (hexagonal close-packed) pattern. The crystals align north-south, along with Earth’s axis of rotation and magnetic field.

 

The orientation of the crystal structure means that seismic waves—the most reliable way to study the core—travel faster when going north-south than when going east-west. Seismic waves travel four seconds faster pole-to-pole than through the Equator.

More information online from "Science"  - this from University of Liverpool:

The inner core is Earth's deepest layer. It is a ball of solid iron just larger than Pluto which is surrounded by a liquid outer core. The inner core is a relatively recent addition to our planet and establishing when it was formed is a topic of vigorous scientific debate with estimates ranging from 0.5 billion to 2 billion years ago

In a new study published in Nature, researchers from the University's School of Environmental Sciences analysed magnetic records from ancient igneous rocks and found that there was a sharp increase in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field between 1 and 1.5 billion years ago.

This increased magnetic field is a likely indication of the first occurrence of solid iron at Earth's centre and the point in Earth's history at which the solid inner core first started to "freeze" out from the cooling molten outer core.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Gary D]

23 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Adding to your post, Gary... It seems you are not 100% correct on the timing of the core solidifying, but what are a few billion years between friends?

 This from National Geographic online:

Outer Core

 

The outer core, about 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) thick, is mostly composed of liquid iron and nickel. The NiFe alloy of the outer core is very hot, between 4,500° and 5,500° Celsius (8,132° and 9,932° Fahrenheit). 

 

The liquid metal of the outer core has very low viscosity, meaning it is easily deformed and malleable. It is the site of violent convection. The churning metal of the outer core creates and sustains Earth’s magnetic field.

 

The hottest part of the core is actually the Bullen discontinuity, where temperatures reach 6,000° Celsius (10,800° Fahrenheit)—as hot as the surface of the sun.

 

Inner Core

 

The inner core is a hot, dense ball of (mostly) iron. It has a radius of about 1,220 kilometers (758 miles). Temperature in the inner core is about 5,200° Celsius (9,392° Fahrenheit). The pressure is nearly 3.6 million atmosphere (atm).

 

The temperature of the inner core is far above the melting point of iron. However, unlike the outer core, the inner core is not liquid or even molten. The inner core’s intense pressure—the entire rest of the planet and its atmosphere—prevents the iron from melting. The pressure and density are simply too great for the iron atoms to move into a liquid state. Because of this unusual set of circumstances, some geophysicists prefer to interpretthe inner core not as a solid, but as a plasma behaving as a solid.

 

The liquid outer core separates the inner core from the rest of the Earth, and as a result, the inner core rotates a little differently than the rest of the planet. It rotates eastward, like the surface, but it’s a little faster, making an extra rotation about every 1,000 years. 

 

Geoscientists think that the iron crystals in the inner core are arranged in an “hcp” (hexagonal close-packed) pattern. The crystals align north-south, along with Earth’s axis of rotation and magnetic field.

 

The orientation of the crystal structure means that seismic waves—the most reliable way to study the core—travel faster when going north-south than when going east-west. Seismic waves travel four seconds faster pole-to-pole than through the Equator.

More information online from "Science"  - this from University of Liverpool:

The inner core is Earth's deepest layer. It is a ball of solid iron just larger than Pluto which is surrounded by a liquid outer core. The inner core is a relatively recent addition to our planet and establishing when it was formed is a topic of vigorous scientific debate with estimates ranging from 0.5 billion to 2 billion years ago

In a new study published in Nature, researchers from the University's School of Environmental Sciences analysed magnetic records from ancient igneous rocks and found that there was a sharp increase in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field between 1 and 1.5 billion years ago.

This increased magnetic field is a likely indication of the first occurrence of solid iron at Earth's centre and the point in Earth's history at which the solid inner core first started to "freeze" out from the cooling molten outer core.

Yes I was referring to the inner core. The latest thinking is that structure is not hexagonal hcp as it would be too fragile but more likely bcc. 

[Tommy T.]

11 minutes ago, Gary D said:

Yes I was referring to the inner core. The latest thinking is that structure is not hexagonal hcp as it would be too fragile but more likely bcc. 

Yes... The data I was quoting was already two or three years old. Science is advancing exponentially.

But because the core is cooling, does not give me reason to believe that the exterior is cooling, as Dave was suggesting. As several have noted, I think the jury is still out regarding where our climate is heading these days. I believe it is warming - just can't add up all the things humans have done in the past 150 years of industrialization without it making some effect. I do hope I am wrong - for the benefit of all you guys out there with kids and grandkids growing up now...

An aside that is off topic, but related... I have been watching a series on cable called "How the Universe Works," and find it fascinating. The scientists and physicists explain a lot of complex theories and facts in ways that I even I can understand. It had some episodes where it discussed the formation of Earth and the mechanics of how it all does work - to our benefit!

Edited August 26, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Arizona Kid]

1 hour ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Computers will do all the thinking. Humans will be just empty shells 

Isn't that the way it already is?

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

So I think Dave's quoted data was mostly correct

You guys miss the point.  Nobody fecking knows.  Its all speculation based on "evidence" that scientists differ on the interpretation of.  Don't you watch the guys on National Geographic "proving" we all came from aliens.

People tend to believe the scientist with the most gobbledy gook in their interpretation.  I guess it makes them sound pretty smart.  To me it makes them sesquipedalian.

[Jack Peterson]

6 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

scientist with the most gobbledy gook  in their interpretation. 

 One of my favorite sayings my friend  that and BBB ( Bullshit Baffles Brains) ( Sorry Mike J but sometimes we have to say it for emphasis)