River of lava as hot as the sun flows from Canada to Russia

A research team discovered a molten lava flow running through Russia and Canada that is 9,000 km long, 420 km wide and has a temperature nearly equal to the Sun.

Lava flows 9,000 km below the Earth's surface with temperatures nearly equal to the Sun. Illustration photo: Reuters.

Scientists have discovered a molten lava flow under the Earth's surface, stretching 9,000 km from Canada to Russia, RT reported. It is about 420 km wide and has a temperature nearly equal to the Sun.

"This discovery is an exciting step forward in understanding the inner workings of our planet," said study co-author Chris Finlay.

The team observed the flow with help from the European Space Agency's Swarm project, which consists of three satellites that can measure and decode magnetic signals emitted from Earth.

"The Swarm satellites provide the sharpest images of the Earth's core. Thanks to that, we can clearly observe the flow for the first time and find out why it exists," said Dr. Phil Livermore, from the University of Leeds, UK, who is in charge of the research.

Scientists have been monitoring the Earth's core for years by measuring the planet's magnetic field. The results show that iron in the outer crust moves faster in the northern hemisphere, especially under Alaska and Siberia.

Using data from Swarm satellites, the team concluded that this change in speed was caused by a lava flow moving more than 40 kilometers per year, hundreds of thousands of times faster than the Earth's tectonic plates move. The flow speed has also accelerated over the past two decades, tripling since 2000 alone.

The team hopes the discovery will provide more information about the structure of the Earth's core and the origin of the planet's magnetic field.

"From there, we can study how the magnetic field changes over time, as well as predict when it will strengthen or weaken," Livermore said.

According to VNE