Related papers: Thermal convection in Earth's inner core with phas…
The improvements of the knowledge of the seismic structure of the inner core and the complexities thereby revealed ask for a dynamical origin. Sub-solidus convection was one of the early suggestions to explain the seismic anisotropy, but it…
In a number of geophysical or planetological settings (Earth's inner core, a silicate mantle crystallizing from a magma ocean, or an ice shell surrounding a deep water ocean) a convecting crystalline layer is in contact with a layer of its…
Seismic mapping of the top of the inner core indicates two distinct areas of high P-wave velocity, the stronger one located beneath Asia, and the other located beneath the Atlantic. This two-fold pattern supports the idea that a…
The Earth acts as a gigantic heat engine driven by decay of radiogenic isotopes and slow cooling, which gives rise to plate tectonics, volcanoes, and mountain building. Another key product is the geomagnetic field, generated in the liquid…
In addition to its global North-South anisotropy(1), there are two other enigmatic seismological observations related to the Earth's inner core: asymmetry between its eastern and western hemispheres(2-6) and the presence of a layer of…
Thermal convection in fluid layers heated from below are usually realized experimentally as well as treated theoretically with fixed boundaries on which conditions for the temperature and the velocity field are prescribed. The thermal and…
The onset of convection in a rapidly rotating layer in which a thermal wind is present is studied. Diffusive effects are included. The main motivation is from convection in planetary interiors, where thermal winds are expected due to…
The Earth's core consists of a solid ball with a radius of 1221 Km, surrounded by a liquid shell which extends up to 3480 Km from the centre of the planet, roughly half way towards the surface (the mean radius of the Earth is 6373 km). The…
Two main seismic features characterize the Earth's inner core: a North-South polar anisotropy and an East-West asymmetry of P-wave velocity and attenuation. Anisotropy is expected if shear deformation is induced by convective motions.…
There has been a long debate on the stable phase of iron under the Earth's inner core conditions. Because of the solid-liquid coexistence at the inner core boundary, the thermodynamic stability of solid phases directly relates to their…
Convection in Earth's outer core is driven by the release of heat and light elements at the inner core boundary. A key question is whether these buoyancy sources drive convection throughout the core, or whether a stable layer exists just…
We study the dynamical regimes of a density-stratified fluid confined between isothermal no-slip top and bottom boundaries (at temperatures $T_t$ and $T_b$) via direct numerical simulation. The thermal expansion coefficient of the fluid is…
The amount and spatial pattern of heat extracted from cores of terrestrial planets is ultimately controlled by the thermal structure of the lower rocky mantle. Using the most common model to tackle this problem, a rapidly rotating and…
We study the vertical structure of the transition layer between an accretion disc and corona in the context of the existence of two-phase medium in thermally unstable regions. The disc is illuminated by hard X-ray radiation and satisfies…
Convection is the main heat transport mechanism in the Earth's liquid core and is thought to power the dynamo that generates the geomagnetic field. Core convection is strongly constrained by rotation while being turbulent. Given the…
After the sunset, under calm and clear sky conditions, aerosol laden surface air-layer, cools radiatively to the upper atmosphere. Predominant effect of the radiative cooling on the vertical temperature profile extends to several hundred…
The interiors of many planets consist mostly of fluid layers. When these layers are subject to superadiabatic temperature or compositional gradients, turbulent convection transports heat and momentum. In addition, planets are fast rotators.…
It has been suggested about 20 years ago that the liquid close to the inner core boundary (ICB) is supercooled and that a sizable mushy layer has developed during the growth of the inner core. The morphological instability of the…
The structure and stability of iron near melting at multi-megabar pressures are of significant interest in high pressure physics and earth and planetary sciences. While the body-centered cubic (BCC) phase is generally recognized as unstable…
Convection of an internally heated fluid, confined between top and bottom plates of equal temperature, is studied by direct numerical simulation in two and three dimensions. The unstably stratified upper region drives convection that…