Computer Science
Scientific paper
Mar 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987e%26psl..82..114s&link_type=abstract
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (ISSN 0012-821X), vol. 82, no. 1-2, March 1987, p. 114-120.
Computer Science
39
Dynamo Theory, Mercury (Planet), Planetary Magnetic Fields, Thermoelectricity, Electrical Resistivity, Magnetic Field Configurations, Planetary Cores, Planetary Mantles, Reynolds Number, Mercury (Planet), Magnetic Fields, Thermodynamics, Dynamo Theory, Models, Magnetic Properties, Thermoelectric Properties, Currents, Thermal Effects, Cores, Mantles, Electrical Properties, Conductivity, Diagrams
Scientific paper
Permanent magnetism and conventional dynamo theory are possible but problematic explanations for the magnitude of the Mercurian magnetic field. A new model is proposed in which thermoelectric currents driven by temperature differences at a bumpy core-mantle boundary are responsible for the (unobserved) toroidal field, and the helicity of convective motions in a thin outer core (thickness of about 100 km) induces the observed poloidal field from the toroidal field. The observed field of about 3 x 10 to the -7th T can be reproduced provided the electrical conductivity of Mercury's semiconducting mantle approaches 1000/ohm per m. This model may be testable by future missions to Mercury because it predicts a more complicated field geometry than conventional dynamo theories. However, it is argued that polar wander may cause the core-mantle topography to migrate so that some aspects of the rotational symmetry may be reflected in the observed field.
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