New candidate for 'missing element' in Earth's core

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38561076

New candidate for 'missing element' in Earth's core

By Rebecca Morelle
Science Correspondent, BBC News

10 January 2017

From the section Science & Environment

Japanese scientists believe they have established the identity of a "missing element" within the Earth's core. They have been searching for the element for decades, believing it makes up a significant proportion of our planet's centre, after iron and nickel. Now by recreating the high temperatures and pressures found in the deep interior, experiments suggest the most likely candidate is silicon. The discovery could help us to better understand how our world formed.

Lead researcher Eiji Ohtani from Tohoku University told BBC News: "We believe that silicon is a major element - about 5% [of the Earth's inner core] by weight could be silicon dissolved into the iron-nickel alloys."
The innermost part of Earth is thought to be a solid ball with a radius of about 1,200km (745 miles).

It is far too deep to investigate directly, so instead scientists study how seismic waves pass through this region to tell them something of its make-up. It is mainly of iron, which makes up an estimated 85% of its weight, and nickel, which accounts for about 10% of the core. To investigate the unaccounted for 5% of the core, Eiji Ohtani and his team created alloys of iron and nickel and mixed them with silicon. They then subjected them to the immense pressures and temperatures that exist in the inner core. They discovered that this mixture matched what was seen in the Earth's interior with seismic data.

Prof Ohtani said more work was needed to confirm the presence of silicon and that it did not rule out the presence of other elements.
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[NBachers]

1. Respect and admiration for the smart people.

[Fast Walker 52]

2. Cool! The center of the earth is an amazingly mysterious place despite it literally being

at the center of our world.

[Nitram]

3. Not despite it being in the center. Because it's at the center.

😛

[Fast Walker 52]

5. haha, sorry!

[Javaman]

4. unobtainium. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

6. bullshit.

It's creamy nougat down there. I'm sure of it.