Geologists have found some pretty unique rock formations in Morocco that are 500 million years old, from the Ediacaran Period. This was a time when the Earth’s magnetic field was all over the place. The study showed that the planet’s magnetic shield was really unstable at that time, which means the theory that tectonic plates were the only thing influencing it is wrong. Scientists reckon that the end of this “magnetic chaos” made the environment suitable for life and triggered the famous Cambrian Explosion. At the same time, seismologists confirmed the existence of a “fifth layer” of the core and an underground ocean at a depth of 640 km, containing three times more water than all the Earth’s surface oceans.
For most of the last century, scientists have been digging in almost every corner of the Earth. What they found has given us some amazing answers to old questions about our planet. But, as The Pulse says, finding rocks that old is just mind-blowing.
What caused this weird underground magnetic signal?
As the article says, our planet has been revealing more and more of its secrets recently.
Seismologists have found a huge reservoir of water under the Earth’s crust, about 640 km deep, and it contains three times more water than all the surface oceans put together.
We’ve also found a secret “fifth layer” of the Earth’s crust
“It’s basically a metallic sphere surrounding the planet’s core, and it acts completely differently from the other four layers. The ocean crashing against the seafloor creates a ‘hum’ that you can’t hear without special equipment,” the publication explains.
It’s an ancient type of rock that’s governed by its own laws
Geologists have discovered an ancient rock from the Ediacaran Period, which occurred approximately 500 million years ago.
“This ancient rock is really unique because it exhibits strange magnetic behaviour that has long puzzled even the best minds in geology. Teams studied rocks in Morocco and documented a sharp shift in the planet’s magnetic field over 500 million years ago,” the publication added.
The study’s authors say that these changes in Earth’s magnetic field couldn’t have been caused by tectonic plates moving.
“We’ve discovered some amazing things about our planet recently by studying satellite data and doing expeditions on the ground. These rocks were undergoing chaotic magnetic changes at the time, which proves that the Earth’s magnetic field has never been stable,” explains The Pulse.
So, how has this research changed how we see the ancient Earth?
This research means we can see that the magnetic environment back then was probably too chaotic to support life.
The period that followed immediately after these rocks shifted marked the beginning of animal life, or the “Cambrian Explosion.”
“Digging up the Earth has revealed a lot about us as a species, but this discovery shows that the Earth’s history was a lot more turbulent than we thought,” the publication said.