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Seismological evidence for differential rotation of the Earth's inner core

Abstract

The travel times of seismic waves that traverse the Earth's inner core show a small but systematic variation over the past three decades. This variation is best explained by a rotation of the inner core that moves the symmetry axis of its known seismic anisotropy. The inferred rotation rate is on the order of 1° per year faster than the daily rotation of the mantle and crust.

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Song, X., Richards, P. Seismological evidence for differential rotation of the Earth's inner core. Nature 382, 221–224 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382221a0

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