Scientists eye whirlpool in Earth’s core

Magnetic measurements reaching back a century indicate that Earth’s liquid-iron outer core slowly swirls beneath the North Pole, a discovery that makes geophysicists believe they are close to understanding the cause of Earth’s magnetic field.

Glatzmaier, G.A. . . . P.H. Roberts. 1999. The role of the Earth’s mantle in controlling the frequency of geomagnetic reversals. Nature 401(Oct. 28):885.

Olson, P., and J. Aurnou. 1999. A polar vortex in the Earth’s core. Nature 402(Nov. 11):170.

Monastersky, R. 1996. Core concerns. Science News 150(Oct. 19):250.

______. 1998. A quest for Earth’s core. Science News 153(June 13):379.

Jonathan Aurnou
Johns Hopkins University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Baltimore, MD 21218

Bruce A. Buffett
University of British Columbia
Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada

Gary A. Glatzmaier
University of California, Santa Cruz
Earth Sciences Department
Santa Cruz, CA 95064

Peter Olson
Johns Hopkins University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Baltimore, MD 21218

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 20, November 13, 1999, p. 310. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.