(Phys.org) —The word "core" conjures up an image of something strong. However, new experiments show that the iron found in the Earth's core is relatively weak. This finding is based on x-ray spectroscopy and diffraction measurements performed at high pressure and utilizing several x-ray beamlines at two U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science light sources including the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The researchers in these studies extrapolated their results to core conditions and found that the strength of iron deep within the Earth is lower than previously thought. This weakness may explain how the crystal structure in the Earth's core has transformed over geological time scales.
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