The calculations of the future of Earth are off, and as a result, the planet is cooling faster than previously thought and will look like Mars, a new study says. There are still many things that are just theories in science. For example, no one has ever sampled the inner core of Earth or the inner core of Mars. But scientists use different types of equipment like seismometers to understand what is going on miles under the surface.
It is believed that Mars lost its oceans and abundant water billions of years ago when it began cooling down. As a result, it lost its magnetic field early in its life, and then its atmosphere weakened. Today, NASA rovers like Perseverance or Insight work to understand what really happened to the planet. However, scientists agree that planets behave in similar ways. For example, Earth has been called a sister of Mars several times.
Researchers of ETH Zurich say that Earth is cooling down 1.5 times faster than initially believed. Scientists recreated the temperatures, pressure, and conditions found in the boundary between the Earth's core and the mantle in a lab. Inside this simulation, they tested how bridgmanite, the most common mineral found there, transfers heat. They say their research questions the rate at which our planet is cooling, but still, no one can estimate how long it will be until it reaches a point of no return.
What Happens If The Earth Cools Down?
4.6 billion years ago, Earth was extremely hot. A sea of magma or lava covered the surface. Overtime (lots of time), the Earth began to cool down, and this process continued. If the inner core radioactive methods that generate heat end, several things would happen. Earth's molten hot lava liquid outer core would solidify and stop flowing. When that happens, the magnetic field of the Earth will die off. Continents on tectonic plates that used to float in this liquid magma would standstill. Without a magnetic field, the solar wind would beat down on the planet and weaken the atmosphere. Like Mars before, Earth would lose all water and all life.
Of course, this is not a fast process but a process that is believed to take billions of years. Some calculations say that Earth will cool down in tens of billions of years, long after the sun burns out and dies. Estimations for when the sun will die off range from two to nine billion years from now.
Researchers of ETH Zurich say that calculations of the Earth cooling process must be revised. They explain that their experiment shows that bridgmanite, the key mineral that transfers heat from the Earth's inner core to the outer mantle, transforms into another mineral called post-perovskite when it cools down. This transformation creates an exponential feedback loop that accelerates heat transfer. The more post-perovskite is made, the more heat loss and cooling takes place. ETH scientists are confident of their findings. "Earth, like the other rocky planets Mercury and Mars, is cooling and becoming inactive much faster than expected," ETH Professor Motohiko Murakami says.
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Source: Phys.org