Sources of Non-Monotonicity for the Earth's Thermal State and Heat Transfer

Details Sources of Non-Monotonicity for the Earth's Thermal State and Heat Transfer Sources of Non-Monotonicity for the Earth's Thermal State and Heat Transfer

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.v23c2146g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #V23C-2146

Physics

8120 Dynamics Of Lithosphere And Mantle: General (1213), 8125 Evolution Of The Earth (0325), 8130 Heat Generation And Transport, 8148 Planetary Volcanism (5480, 8450), 8157 Plate Motions: Past (3040)

Scientific paper

Monotonic models of Earth's thermal evolution do not account for temporal variations of heat loss out of the mantle due to changes in the geometrical pattern of convection, for instance in relation to the cycle of aggregation and dispersal of continents. These variations are significant, of the order of 10~TW on a timescale of a few hundreds million years, and not negligible by comparison to the expected monotonic variation of Earth's heat loss due to secular cooling (around 5~TW on a timescale of one billion years). An event that may influence the heat loss of a terrestrial planet in a more dramatic way is the possible cessation of plate tectonics. This possibility is studied here using numerical models of thermal convection including a temperature-dependent viscosity and plastic yielding, which leads to either a stagnant lid regime, an episodiplate-like regime or a stable one, depending on the chosen parameters for plastic yielding, on the vigour of convection, on the thermal state of the mantle and on the geometry of the flow. The model also includes the possibility of partial melting within the mantle, which was widespread when the Earth was hotter. We discuss the consequences of time variations of the convection pattern and of the possible cessation of plate tectoncis on the thermal state of the mantle, and study the temporal variations in melting events and their consequences on mantle heat loss.

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