What factors influence how the Earth's liquid core rotates?

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   davenmidtownposted 12 years ago

   What factors influence how the Earth's liquid core rotates?
   
   Scientist believe the liquid core of the Earth rotates and changes directions which in turn causes changes in the electro magnetic fields that surround the Earth. What might be some of those factors or forces that influence how the liquid core flows/rotates? What would cause molten magma to change flow direction?  Might these forces be the same forces that cause air and water (oceans and seas) to flow in one direction or another?

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2. 53

   whonunuwhoposted 12 years ago

   The magnetic pull of the sun and other planets, including our moon has influences upon this core rotation. The pressure of the water of oceans and land masses create factors influencing the core. Earth quakes and shifting plates of the earth, volcanic eruptions all play a part. There is a theory that the alignment with the center of the galaxy is one possible explanation, though not totally supported by all scientists and those who study the astronomy. It is establish fact that planets influence others and are all attracted in their rotation about the sun, just as in other solar systems in the galaxy. A simple example is the moons pull and effects on the tides every day. The gravitational pull causes the movement of the water levels and tides to move out and back in an a never ending cycle of activity and will do so for eons to come.Scientists also maintain that with the melting of glaciers and ice on the planet, the added pressures on the sub strata, cause more and more violent earth quake activity, which we have been experiencing lately. It is hard to differentiate the extent to which there is man made causes from pollution, poor conservation habits, and wrongdoing by human activity and what is all just one big cycle and may occur naturally,despite what we humans do or think. I believe that we can affect many things about our habitat, but not the core, which is influenced by magnetic anomalies that we have no control over.

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3. 61

   tphelan88posted 12 years ago

   Also, the conservation of angular momentum plays a part in causing the core to spin.  The Earth was formed from an accretion disk of dust that was blown off after the Sun was born.  The gravity of the Sun caused all the dust to spin around in orbit and from there, the spinning dust began to accrete, or snowball, into larger and larger chunks.  Large chunks collided with other large chunks, and so on and so on.  All the while, the spinning continued until a large spherical rocky body was left over that was still spinning.  The spinning has not stopped in the core which is the remnants of the early accretion.

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   1. 72

      davenmidtownposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      @tphelan88: do you refer to the solid core of the liquid core or perhaps both?

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   2. 61

      tphelan88posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      They both spin, although the liquid core spins faster

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