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Earth's Core Far Hotter Than Thought

Posted by timothy on from the might-as-well-be-walking-on-the-earth dept.

hessian writes "New measurements suggest the Earth's inner core is far hotter than prior experiments suggested, putting it at 6,000C — as hot as the Sun's surface. The solid iron core is actually crystalline, surrounded by liquid. But the temperature at which that crystal can form had been a subject of long-running debate. Experiments outlined in Science used X-rays to probe tiny samples of iron at extraordinary pressures to examine how the iron crystals form and melt."

5 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oh noes! by Feyshtey · · Score: 4, Informative

    But Al Gore said it was "several million degress".... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMrxC-qEHb8 I'm so confused.

    --
    "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,..." - Nancy Pelosi
  2. Far hotter? by omnichad · · Score: 5, Informative

    I may have misread, but I think this article is saying that 20% hotter is "far" hotter. Not the adjective I would use for 20%.

    1. Re:Far hotter? by omnichad · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, since it's Celsius and not Kelvin, it's not a 20% absolute increase. At thousands of degrees, the difference between Celsius and Kelvin is more of a rounding error so I didn't mention it.

      5 to 6 degrees would be a 1/278th increase.

  3. Re:Iron vs. sulfur by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since when did Creationists ever let facts get in the way of a good myth?

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  4. Re:Oh noes! by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Oh man, don't say that. Someone will believe it.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.