I also read that it may be somewhere between solid and liquid in a “superionic” state. But I don’t really understand what they mean. Is there an animated video of this hypothesis?
In: Planetary Science
It’s because of the immense pressure. The core has two layers, the Outer Core which is liquid, and the Inner Core, which is solid.
Whether materials are liquid, solid or gas depends on temperature and pressure. Things solidify if they’re cool enough, but also if you compress them enough (with some specific exceptions, like water).
Right now the solid inner core is growing at the expense of the liquid outer core, because it’s cooling down AND under enough pressure to drive it that way.
As for the superionic thing, I’m not entirely sure, but a quick read says it has something to do with hydrogen diffused in iron under the conditions of the inner core causing the iron-hydrogen alloy to get liquid-like properties, meaning that a part of the inner core that should be solid behaves like a liquid instead, and interacts with the earth’s magnetic field.
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