Ocean floor witnessed splitting apart for the first time — releasing lava

For the first time, geophysicists have caught the ocean floor splitting apart at its seams. Using an array of measuring stations laid across an 100-kilometre-long region of the Indian Ocean, the team witnessed a seismic event that shifted two sections of the oceanic crust apart by at least 2 metres in a matter of days, spewing around 160 million cubic metres of lava onto the sea floor as it did so.

Earth’s inner core is changing shape

By analysing how seismic waves from earthquakes travelled through the planet, scientists have found that Earth’s inner core is changing shape. They noted that the waveforms of some seismic signals changed between 2004 and 2008, and attributed the phenomenon to the inner core — normally thought to be solid and unyielding - bulging in some areas. Changes in the dynamics of the core could affect the Earth’s magnetic field and the length of our 24-hour day.

India’s pioneering mission bolsters idea that Moon’s surface was molten

The first-ever analysis of soil near the Moon’s south pole has found further evidence that the lunar surface melted shortly after it formed. The data come from India’s pioneering Chandrayaan-3 mission, which deployed a rover on the Moon last August that found the soil mainly comprised the mineral ferroan anorthosite. Previous landers have found similar results at other locations, suggesting the composition of the surface is uniform. This supports the theory that the Moon originated from material scattered into space when a large impactor struck the newly formed Earth.

Reservoir of liquid water found deep in Martian rocks

Reservoirs 11.5 to 20 kilometres below the surface of Mars might hold liquid water. If so, it would be the first found on the planet. The evidence comes from data gathered by NASA’s InSight lander, which retired in 2022. InSight monitored seismic waves created by Marsquakes, which suggest that the planet has a layer of fractured rocks saturated with liquid water deep underground.

Violent volcanoes shaped Jupiter’s moon

The most volcanically active place in the Solar System, Jupiter’s moon Io, has been shaped by volcanoes for billions of years. Lava and ash spewing from hundreds of volcanoes continuously resurface Io, obscuring any physical evidence of its history. Scientists now used sulphur in the moon’s atmosphere as “a tracer for studying Io’s long-term evolution”, explains planetary scientist and study co-author Katherine de Kleer. Because lava on Io is thought to be similar to magma on early Earth, “Io’s volcanism might be giving us a window into the mechanisms of volcanism and Earth’s early history”, she adds.

Mars contains surprise layer of molten rock

In the interior of Mars, a layer of molten rock envelops the liquid-metal core, which is smaller than previously thought. Scientists discovered the unique layer by analysing the seismic energy that vibrated through the planet after a meteorite impact. The seismic waves’ speed depends on the types of material that they are travelling through. The molten-rock layer might be left over from a magma ocean that once covered the planet.

Has Earth’s inner core stopped its strange spin?

Around 2009, Earth’s solid-iron inner core might have stopped rotating faster than the rest of the planet. Researchers studied seismic waves generated by US nuclear test blasts during the cold war, and later by earthquakes, to discover that the inner core started spinning faster than the mantle after 1971, then slowed back down. The results could help to shine light on mysteries including what part the inner core plays in maintaining the planet’s magnetic field and in affecting the speed of the whole planet’s rotation — and thus the length of a day. But the latest study is unlikely to have the final word on the disputed topic.