New layer at earth’s inner core discovered.

February 28, 2023

Discovered by Australian National University seismologists, the new layer is a solid metallic ball is deep inside inner core of Earth, dubbed as “innermost inner core”.
It is solid due to high pressure deep within the Earth that stops iron alloy from melting. It is a crystallized structure within inner core’s innermost region that is different from outer layer.
First hypothesised about 20 years ago, it was identified through data gathered from seismic waves caused by earthquakes.
So far, four layers of Earth’s structure had been identified. These include:
1. Crust: Topmost or outermost layer of earth which makes up 1% of Earth Volume. It has two parts – thinner Oceanic Crust and thicker Continental Crust.
2. Mantle: Solid/plastic layer of earth which makes up about 84% of Earth Volume. It is divided in two parts – Upper Mantle and Lower Mantle. Uppermost mantle and crust constitute lithosphere.
3. Outer core: Liquid portion of core, composed of 80% iron along with nickel and some other lighter elements.
4. Inner core: Solid portion of core, composed of Iron and nickel with presence of heavy elements like gold, platinum, palladium, silver and tungsten.