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.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lehmann, I. Publ. Bur. Cent. Assoc. Int. Seismol. A14, 87–115 (1936).
Braginsky, S. I. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 149, 8–10 (1963).
Gans, R. F. J. geophys. Res. 77, 360–366 (1972).
Poirier, J. P. Geophys. J. 92, 99–105 (1988).
Steenbeck, M. & Helmis, G. Geophys J. R. astr. Soc. 41, 237–244 (1975).
Gubbins, D. J. geophys. Res. 86, 11695–11699 (1981).
Morelli, A., Dziewonski, A. M. & Woodhouse, J. H. Geophys. Res. Lett. 13, 1545–1548 (1986).
Woodhouse, J. H., Giardini, D. & Li, X.-D. Geophys. Res. Lett. 13, 1549–1552 (1986).
Poupinet, G., Pillet, R. & Souriau, A. Nature 305, 204–206 (1983).
Masters, G. & Gilbert, F. Geophys. Res. Lett. 8, 569–571 (1981).
Creager, K. C. Nature 356, 309–314 (1992).
Song, X. D. & Helmberger, D. V. Geophys. Res. Lett. 20, 2591–2594 (1993).
Tromp, J. Nature 366, 678–681 (1993).
Shearer, P. M., Toy, K. M. & Orcutt, J. A. Nature 333, 228–232 (1988).
Shearer, P. M. & Toy, K. M. J. geophys. Res. 96, 2233–2247 (1991).
Shearer, P. M. J. geophys. Res. 99, 19647–19659 (1994).
Vinnik, L., Romanowicz, B. & Breger, L. Geophys. Res. Lett. 21, 1671–1674 (1994).
Su, W. J. & Dziewonski, A. M. J. geophys. Res. 100, 9831–9852 (1995).
McSweeney, T. J., Creager, K. C. & Merrill, R. T. Phys. Earth planet. Inter. (submitted).
Song, X. D. & Helmberger, D. V. J. geophys. Res. 100, 9805–9816 (1995).
Song, X. D. J. geophys. Res. (in the press).
Tromp, J. GSA Today 5(7), 137–151 (1995).
Takahashi, T. & Bassett, W. A. Science 145, 483–486 (1964).
Jeanloz, R. & Wenk, H. R. Geophys. Res. Lett. 15, 72–75 (1988).
Karato, S. Science 262, 1708–1711 (1993).
Stixrude, L. & Cohen, R. E. Science 267, 1972–1975 (1995).
Stevenson, D. J. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 88, 311–319 (1987).
Glatzmaier, G. A. & Roberts, P. H. Nature 377, 203–209 (1995).
Glatzmaier, G. A. & Roberts, P. H. Phys. Earth planet. Inter. 91, 63–75 (1995).
Dziewonski, A. M. & Anderson, D. L. Phys. Earth planet. Inter. 25, 297–356 (1981).
Lambeck, K. The Earth's Variable Rotation: Geophysical Causes and Consequences 275–282 (Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1980).
Douglas, A. Nature 215, 47–48 (1967).
Dewey, J. W. & Algermissen, S. T. Bull, seism. Soc. Am. 64, 1033–1048 (1974).
Gubbins, D. C., Thomson, C. J. & Whaler, K. A. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 68, 241–251 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/382221a0
This article is cited by
-
Inner core static tilt inferred from intradecadal oscillation in the Earth’s rotation
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Multidecadal variation of the Earth’s inner-core rotation
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
Has Earth’s inner core stopped its strange spin?
Nature (2023)
-
Differential rotation of the Earth’s inner core changes over decades and has come to near-halt
Nature Geoscience (2023)
-
An initial map of fine-scale heterogeneity in the Earth’s inner core
Nature Geoscience (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.