Gravitationa

by Lecomte, H., Rosat, S., Mandea, M. and Dumberry, M.
Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2023GL104790
December, 2023

The differential axial rotation of the solid inner core is suggested by seismic observations and expected from core dynamics models. A rotation of the inner core by an angle α takes its degree 2, order 2 topography (peak-to-peak amplitude δh) out of its gravitational alignment with the mantle. This creates a gravity variation of degree 2, order 2 proportional to δh and to α. Here, we use gravity observations from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On to reconstruct the time-variable S2,2 Stokes coefficient. We show that for δh=90 m, S2,2 provides upper bounds on α of 0.09°, 0.3°, and 0.4° at periods of 4, 5 to 6, and 8 to 12 years, respectively. These are overestimates, as our reconstructed S2,2 signal likely remains polluted by hydrology, although viscous relaxation of the inner core can permit larger amplitudes

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