Scientists say it could be years before they can prove the accuracy of the latest findings.

Scientists are now saying that the spinning core at the centre of Earth may have recently stopped rotating as part of a seven-decade cycle.

The inner core is mostly a solid ball of iron floating in a liquid outer core, so its rotation is not necessarily correlated with that of the rest of the planet. Thus, the sudden stop of the rotation is highly possible.

According to a study, the Pluto-sized inner core may have ceased to rotate since 2009.

However, some other speculation suggest the inner core may have started spinning in the opposite way, according to scientists.

If so, the magnetic and gravitational forces that propel the core are likely experiencing some sort of change.

The study may contribute to a better understanding of how changes to the core might affect features on the surface of the Earth, such as the duration of the day and navigation.

Part of the analysis included in the report is the examination of the seismic waves that had travelled through the planet’s inner core.

When the waves were tracked, it was discovered that pathways that had previously displayed large temporal shifts had undergone minimal change over the prior decade.

According to the study, the procedure is a component of an oscillation that lasts “approximately seven-decades.”

“This globally consistent pattern suggests that inner-core rotation has recently paused,” scientists from Peking University in China said.

“We compared this recent pattern to the Alaskan seismic records of South Sandwich Islands doublets going back to 1964 and it seems to be associated with a gradual turning-back of the inner core as part of an approximately seven-decade oscillation, with another turning point in the early 1970s,” they wrote.

Their findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, offer more proof that “dynamic interactions” between the Earth’s various strata can affect the magnetic field and surface changes.

According to some theories, the Earth’s core is a solid ball with a radius of around 800 miles and a temperature resembling that of the sun’s surface.

The core is able to spin independently and at a different rate than the rest of the Earth because, according to earlier research, it is separated from the planet’s surface by a liquid metal outer core.

Other scientists have taken note of the research, but they think it may be years before they can decide whether this is accurate.