Just what sustains Earth's magnetic field anyway?
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - 14:20
in Astronomy & Space
Earth's magnetic field shields us from deadly cosmic radiation, and without it, life as we know it could not exist here. The motion of liquid iron in the planet's outer core, a phenomenon called a 'geodynamo,' generates the field. But how it was first created and then sustained throughout Earth's history has remained a mystery to scientists. New work sheds light on the history of this incredibly important geologic occurrence.