New research reveals that Earth’s solid inner core is actually in a superionic state, where carbon atoms flow freely through a solid iron lattice. This unusual behavior makes the core soft, matching ...

Buried nearly 1,800 miles below Earth’s surface are two vast, continent-sized structures that continue to challenge our understanding of the planet’s formation. Theselarge low shear velocity provinces ...

A study by researchers at the University of Oxford, University of Leeds, and University College London has identified a new constraint on the chemistry of Earth's core, by showing how it was able to ...

Earth is fortunate in having a magnetic field: it protects the planet and its life from harmful cosmic radiation. Other planets in our solar system—such as Mars—are constantly bombarded by charged ...

Geophysicists have modeled how Earth’s magnetic field could form even when its core was fully liquid. By removing the effects of viscosity in their simulation, they revealed a self-sustaining dynamo ...

Earth's core cannot be made just of iron — it also appears to contain carbon. And our research suggests it may contain a bit of oxygen and possibly silicon as well. When you purchase through links on ...

All the activity on Earth’s surface — erupting volcanoes, shifting tectonic plates, restless seas and myriad forms of life — depends on the two-part engine under the hood. Directly beneath Earth’s ...