Could Earth's Inner Core Be Doughnut Shaped?

[common_sense_seeker]

Miaki Ishii has discovered that there is an innermost inner core, see article. I think that she may have actually discovered that there is a large hole running from the north to south pole. Sounds crazy? A doughnut shaped inner core would explain the geomagnetic and electric fields, and also the geomagnetic pole reversals become easier to understand: the fluid outer core changes it's flow of direction, now going from south to north. A spacedaily article is http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-02z.html. Remember where you heard this first.

In the early 1980s, researchers found earthquake waves traveling parallel to the axis of Earth's rotation, roughly north-south, went through the inner core faster than did waves traveling along the equatorial plane, or east-west.

(The idea of a doughnut shaped inner core could also be applied to the Sun and other stars)

[fedr808]

That would make sense with the poles, but, that would mean that the center would need to be very magnetic to work.

[EndLightEnd]

I wouldnt be surprised, the toroid is a very important shape in cosmology.

[FreshHat]

mmmmm...doughnuts !

[Xylene]

mmmmm...doughnuts !

What's more, really warm donuts

[common_sense_seeker]

That would make sense with the poles, but, that would mean that the center would need to be very magnetic to work.

Could you explain further? I don't quite understand what you mean.

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

BTW this asymmetry of the inner core would also explain the oblate spheroid shape of the Earth, being flatter at the poles. It would also explain the fact that the gravitational field is less at the equator than at the poles.

[Ophiolite]

BTW this asymmetry of the inner core would also explain the oblate spheroid shape of the Earth, being flatter at the poles. It would also explain the fact that the gravitational field is less at the equator than at the poles.

What's wrong with the current explanation?

[D H]

Miaki Ishii has discovered that there is an innermost inner core, see article. I think that she may have actually discovered that there is a large hole running from the north to south pole.

You misread the article. It suggests that the Earth has an inner inner core. That inner inner core is still roughly spherical. Doughnut shaped? How do you construe that from the article?

Remember where you heard this first.

Not from you. The cited articles are from 2002. Link to the 2002 paper (and a companion paper) as published in PNAS (rather than described in a lay magazine):

Ishii, M. and Dziewoński, A., "The innermost inner core of the earth: Evidence for a change in anisotropic behavior at the radius of about 300 km", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 October 29; 99(22): 14026–14030.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...i?artid=137830

Anderson, D., "The inner inner core of Earth", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 October 29; 99(22): 13966–13968.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...i?artid=137819

The anisotropy results more from the orientation of the iron and nickel crystals in the core rather than from the shape of the core. See http://news.illinois.edu/news/08/0310core.html.

BTW this asymmetry of the inner core would also explain the oblate spheroid shape of the Earth, being flatter at the poles. It would also explain the fact that the gravitational field is less at the equator than at the poles.

No. We already know why the Earth is an oblate spheroid and why gravity is weaker at the equator than at the poles, and this has nothing to do with the shape of the inner core.

[Oli]

What's more, really warm donuts

Of course!
It all makes sense now.
That old mnemonic to remember the order the planets out from the Sun:

Many Volcanoes Erupt Molten Jam Sometimes Under Normal Pressure.

That's where the molten jam comes from - the doughnuts at the core of each planet/ star.
It was a secret code of the ancients and we failed to see it.

[Oli]

BTW this asymmetry of the inner core would also explain the oblate spheroid shape of the Earth, being flatter at the poles. It would also explain the fact that the gravitational field is less at the equator than at the poles.

No it wouldn't, actually.
It would mean there were more anomalies than that.

[fedr808]

How about this. The earth's core is physically round. But because of the electromagentic fields, magnetic materials like iron which makes up the majority of the core form a ring around our access like the suggested donut shape, yet nickel and other non magnetic elements fill up any other spaces so physically the center is round, but geologically, the iron forms a donut shape with nickel making up the upper and lower ends of said donut to form it into a sphere.

[Ophiolite]

Nonsense.

[fedr808]

Nonsense.

sorry to bother you, im no geologist, but im just throwing my opinion out there.

[Ophiolite]

No problem. I was just offering my objective assessment of that opinion. I'll explain that assessment if you wish.

[temur]

If Earth has a large hole in the middle I don't know how it is going to support the pressure at the walls of the hole.

[common_sense_seeker]

sorry to bother you, im no geologist, but im just throwing my opinion out there.

I saw your comments questioning how the core can create the fluid flow of the outer core which in turn creates the magnetic field. This has the potential to be answered by this doughnut shaped inner core proposal.

I appreciate all the good points raised by everyone. None seem to seriously undermine the concept in my opinion though.

[Ophiolite]

I appreciate all the good points raised by everyone. None seem to seriously undermine the concept in my opinion though.

You mean apart from the fact that the paper you cited says nothing about a doughnut shaped core?

[common_sense_seeker]

You mean apart from the fact that the paper you cited says nothing about a doughnut shaped core?

I'm thinking ahead and using my intuition. Intuitively there is nothing to stop this idea form being correct. I've emailed Miaki Ishii with the concept, although she has yet to respond to the suggestion.

Note that natural deviations in the shape of each individual core could also be a vital factor as well as the asymmetry due to the toroid shape itself.

[Ophiolite]

I'm thinking ahead and using my intuition.

Hand waving waffle.

Intuitively there is nothing to stop this idea form being correct.

There are several things. I really don't know where to begin. Let's just take one thing at a time. You say "I think that she may have actually discovered that there is a large hole running from the north to south pole."

How is this hole maintained? Simple question. I await your answer.

[common_sense_seeker]

Hand waving waffle.

There are several things. I really don't know where to begin. Let's just take one thing at a time. You say "I think that she may have actually discovered that there is a large hole running from the north to south pole."

How is this hole maintained? Simple question. I await your answer.

By the miracle of structure. I imagine that the material would be different from conventional thinking. I have used intuition again to come to the conclusion of tightly packed neutrons, although a scientific proof is beyond my abilities at present. Neutron stars show that there is potential in this idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star