On the inhomogeneity of the transition surface layer of the solid core of the earth

Abstract

Different geophysical data and conclusions of theoretical models, which can give information about the behavior of the solid and liquid cores of the Earth as well as about the existence of a transition layer as a temperature hysteresis region at a relatively weak first order phase transition, are compared. It is con cluded that liquid inclusions inevitably exist in this region; these inclusions are involved (due to the complex convective processes occurring in the liquid core) in the transport of light materials from some areas of the solid core surface. The porosity and permeability of the transition layer determine the seismic acoustic inho mogeneities in these areas, which contact the convective flows in the liquid core. In particular, this explains the well known "east-west" effect. Obviously, the model of the crystalline core is not the only possible alter native for a model of a core with a metallic glasslike structure.