At the center of the Earth lies a solid metal ball that rotates independently of our spinning planet. Scientists have debated the inner core’s rotation speed and direction. However, new research points to the inner core varying speed in recent years. However, researchers are not exactly sure if there are any effects from the inner core slowing down or reversing.
Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann discovered the ball-shaped inner core in 1936.
The inner core is buried approximately 3,220 miles deep inside Earth. The solid metal ball is mostly comprised of iron and nickel. The inner core is estimated to reach temperatures as scalding as the surface of the sun – roughly 9,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to National Geographic:
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…
