Researchers have found that a very high amount of carbon is present in the core of the Earth, which can be up to 90-95 percent of the carbon of our planet. This will also reveal the processes inside the planets.
Getting information about the internal structure of the Earth is a difficult task. Due to the access of humans to a very small depth, scientists have to rely on indirect methods about its internal structure and they continue to study on this subject. Recent studies have given better information in the amount of carbon in the earth’s core, which has shown that the largest carbon reservoir on our earth is its core.
- How much carbon is in the outer core
This study by Florida State University and Rice University is published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. According to this, 0.3 to 2 percent of the outer core of the Earth is made up of carbon. This seems like a very small quantity in percentage terms, but it is very high in terms of quantity.
- high amount of carbon
Researchers have estimated in this study that the outer core contains 55 to 368 billion trillion kg of carbon, which is a very large amount. Co-author of this study Mainak Mukherjee, associate professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science of Geology, explains that understanding the structure of the Earth’s core is one of the major problems of solid Earth science.
- density difference
Mukherjee said, “We know that the core of the Earth is mainly of iron, but the density of iron is greater than the density of the core. This means that there are lighter elements present in the core which are reducing its density. Carbon is a major participant in this and we are working out a better way to know how much it will be.”
Carbon has an important role in all life processes of the Earth, so this study is very useful. (symbolic photo: Pixabay)
- how much carbon on earth
Previous research has estimated the total amount of carbon on Earth. This research has further improved those estimates and is in the range of 990 parts per million (PPM) to more than 6400 ppm. This means that the Earth’s core contains 93 to 95 percent of the planet’s carbon.
- Comparison of a computer model with real conditions
Humans cannot reach the Earth’s core, so the researchers compared the known velocities of compressed sound waves with computer models that showed the amount of iron, carbon and other lighter metals in the Earth’s core at the same pressure and temperature as the Earth’s core. The lead author of this study, Suraj Bajgen, said that when the velocity of sound waves matched the velocity observed in his simulation, then the structure of that simulation should also match the structure of the outer core.
Researchers compared the velocities of sound waves moving inside the Earth with a simulation model. (symbolic photo: shutterstock)
- better estimates
Scientists had earlier tried from a range of many carbon quantities. But this research reduced that range and at the same time revealed the structure of the outer core, reducing the possibilities of oxygen, sulfur silicon, hydrodon and nitrogen as well. Carbon is also an essential element for life on Earth like hydrogen and oxygen.
Researchers say this research gives us better information in many respects, such as where on Earth most of the carbon is located, how it comes from different reserves. Apart from this, we have more deep questions like where did the carbon for life on earth come from and how much carbon was there in the beginning and how did it become less and more later. These questions will also be answered by further research.
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