Investigating Plume Mobility and Heat Transport in 3D Numerical Mantle Convection Models Incorportating Plate-like Surface Motion

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8121 Dynamics, Convection Currents And Mantle Plumes, 8130 Heat Generation And Transport, 8147 Planetary Interiors (5430, 5724), 8149 Planetary Tectonics (5475), 8155 Plate Motions: General

Scientific paper

The influence of plate-scale motion on mantle plume generation and mobility is not well understood. The issue takes on a particular importance as some authors have pointed out that a significant fraction of core heat flux could be carried into the mantle by plumes that are subsequently entrained by upwelling currents associated with the large scale flow beneath diverging plates. It has independently been suggested that, in the absence of the organising influence of plate scale flow, many plumes may not have the individual buoyancy required to traverse the mantle. Both of these scenarios separately suggest that estimates of core heat loss based on the buoyancy flux calculated at well defined hotspots could be potentially underestimated. We invesigate the ratio of surface to basal heat loss as well as plume mobility in a suite of 3-D numerical convection calculations. This is done by modelling different tectonic plate settings where each model is characterised by an isothermal bottom boundary and different depth-dependent internal heating rates. We investigate the influence of plate size and the ratio of poloidal to toroidal power in the specified plate motion in a series of calculations. We also examine the influence of viscosity stratification and thermal expansivity depth-dependence on plume mobility. Plume characteristics including longevity and relative fixity are measured, as is the rate of basal heat loss. Our findings are compared with results from laboratory models and previous numerical studies and are finally used to comment on conventional estimates of core heat loss.

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