Convection in spherical fluid shells with an outer crust of variable thickness

Details Convection in spherical fluid shells with an outer crust of variable thickness Convection in spherical fluid shells with an outer crust of variable thickness

Dec 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997pepi..104..283z&link_type=abstract

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 104, p. 283-294.

Physics

7

Scientific paper

We investigate linear and nonlinear convection in a thick spherical fluid shell on which a thin spherical layer of a lighter, but much more viscous fluid of variable thickness with lower thermal conductivity is superimposed. This `crust' moves horizontally in response to the convective motion in the inner spherical fluid shell. Through its varying thickness the thin outer spherical layer acts as a thermal blanket of varying impedance and thus, provides a strong feedback on convective motions in the lower mantle shell. Solutions for the thin outer spherical layer are obtained analytically and matched to the numerical solutions for motions in the mantle shell. We first perform a linear stability analysis for the onset of time-dependent convection. The analysis is then extended to nonlinear axisymmetric solutions with or without equatorial symmetry. Finally, fully three-dimensional solutions are computed, demonstrating that there exists a rich variety of time-dependent spherical convection patterns. The time dependence originates from the crustal thickness instability which corresponds to a Hopf bifurcation even in the absence of convective overturning (Busse, 1978). The results of the analysis show that even a small volume of crustal material may cause a significant temporal and spatial complexity of the convection flow.

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