Three-dimensional models of mantle flow across a low-viscosity zone - Implications for hotspot dynamics

Details Three-dimensional models of mantle flow across a low-viscosity zone - Implications for hotspot dynamics Three-dimensional models of mantle flow across a low-viscosity zone - Implications for hotspot dynamics

Jul 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990e%26psl..99..170r&link_type=abstract

Earth and Planetary Science Letters (ISSN 0012-821X), vol. 99, no. 1-2, July 1990, p. 170-184. Research supported by CNES, CNRS,

Other

21

Earth Mantle, Geothermal Resources, Rayleigh-Benard Convection, Three Dimensional Models, Viscous Flow, Boundary Conditions, Isotherms, Lithosphere, Mathematical Models, Prandtl Number, Rayleigh Number, Time Dependence

Scientific paper

Previous studies have indicated the existence of a low-viscosity zone in the earth's mantle at a depth of about 200 km. In this paper, the effects of such a viscosity drop on the planform of mantle convection are studied by examining the influence of a shallow low-viscosity zone on the geometry of infinite-Prandtl-number Rayleigh-Benard convection at Rayleigh numbers ranging from 1500 to 300,000. The results show that the viscosity drop induces a marked asymmetry between the upper and lower convective boundary layers, promoting the development of ascending plumes which are large at depth and very narrow below the lithosphere. These plumes are very stable in time and space. It is inferred that the channeling of the ascending plumes precludes the development of secondary convection in a top low-viscosity layer.

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