Rusting is an oxidation reaction. Rust is formed when iron interacts with water and oxygen to shape hydrated iron(III) oxide. When iron and steel come into contact with water and oxygen, they rust – both are required for rusting to occur.

Here is the word equation for the reaction: iron + water + oxygen → hydrated iron(III) oxide

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Rust, a reddish-brown byproduct of this reaction, can be composed of a variety of hydrous (water-bearing) iron oxides and iron oxide-hydroxide components. Deep beneath the Earth’s surface – 2,900 kilometres deep, to be exact – is a mass of mostly molten iron that forms the planet’s outer core. Could it rust too? Let’s Find Out!

According to a new study, the Earth’s core, which is made of molten nickel and iron, is rusting. The findings were reported in the journal Advancing Earth and Space Science. Because the core is 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometres) underneath the Earth’s crust, it was suspected that high-pressure environment and scarcity of water-bearing minerals guarded the molten outer centre from rust.

Scientists’ recent experiments imply something else. The scientists conducted the experiment by simulating high-pressure conditions found in the Planet’s core. The moisture was then introduced to iron in the type of a hydroxyl-bearing mineral.

Experts discovered that the chemical reaction produced iron peroxide at nearly one million atmospheres of pressure, implying that rust emergence could occur in the Planet’s core as well.

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“It could learn more about the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), which took place 2.5 billion to 2.3 billion years ago and marked the emergence of Planet’s oxygen-rich air.” Space Science journal stated.

Cover Image: NASA