Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows
Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field.
For more information about this study, see the press release from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust
Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth’s crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie’s Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature.
Oceanic crust sinks into the Earth’s mantle at so-called subduction zones, where two plates come together. Much of what happens to the crust during this journey is unknown. Model-dependent studies for how long subducted material can exist in the mantle are uncertain and evidence of very old crust returning to Earth’s surface via upwellings of magma has not been found until now.
For more information about these results, see the press release from the Carnegie Institution.
Presentation at the Fall 2009 Meeting of the American Geophysical Union
Windows to the Universe staff member Randy Russell presented a talk at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in December 2009 in San Francisco. The talk was presented as part of session ED54A - Simulations, Animations, and Interactive Multimedia for Planetary Sciences Teaching and Learning. The title of the talk was "Interactives: Comets, Orbital Motions, and Virtual Ballooning to Explore Planetary Atmospheres".
Follow the links below to view interactives and animations highlighted in the talk:
When one object is in orbit around another object, the orbit is usually an elliptical orbit. For example, all of the planets in our Solar System move around the Sun in elliptical orbits. An ellipse is...more
Most objects in orbits move along an elliptical path. An ellipse is a shape that can be thought of as a "stretched out" circle or an oval. An ellipse can be very long and thin, or it can be quite...more
Welcome to the online resources for the 2006 educators workshop, Can a Good Climate Go Bad? Past, Present, and Future Climate. This workshop, presented at the University of Texas by Teri Eastburn of UCAR...more
Will you be at the NSTA Regional Conferences in either Detroit (18-20 October) or Denver (8-10 November)? If so, we invite you to participate in one or more of the Windows to the Universe sessions listed...more
NESTA and AGU teamed up to organize the 2011 AGU-NESTA GIFT Workshop, offered on December 5 - 6, 2011 at the 2011 American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco, California. The five presentation...more
Everyone needs some inspiration sometime! Here are some quotes that you may enjoy, or find useful in your work, play, or everyday life. The starting point for this was an energetic conversation on the...more
NESTA and AGU teamed up to organize the 2012 AGU-NESTA GIFT Workshop, offered on December 3-4, 2012 at the 2012 American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco, California. The six presentation teams...more
