Canberra: Australian National University (ANU) scientists have discovered a donut-shaped region within the liquid core thousands of kilometers underground, which could provide a better understanding of our planet’s magnetic field.
According to ANU seismologists, the structure within the Earth’s liquid core is only found at the lowest level and is parallel to the equator. About which scientists did not know anything until now.
Earth has two primary layers: the inner core, a solid layer, and the outer core, a liquid layer. Around the center of the earth is the mantle. The recently discovered donut-shaped region is at the top of Earth’s outer core, where the liquid core meets the mantle.
Co-author of the study and ANU geophysicist Professor Hrovoje Taklikic says the newly discovered area has slower seismic waves compared to the rest of the liquid outer core.
He said that this region is parallel to the equatorial surface, confined to lower latitudes and shaped like a doughnut. We do not know the exact thickness of the donut, but it is estimated to be a few hundred kilometers below the core-mantle boundary.
