FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: Advanced Search  

G-Cubed: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

 

Keywords

  • dynamo
  • fluid dynamics
  • heat transfer
  • convection
  • core
  • turbulence

Index Terms

  • Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism: Core processes
  • Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism: Dynamo: theories and simulations
  • Nonlinear Geophysics: Turbulence
Abstract
Cited By (6)
 

Abstract

GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS, VOL. 11, Q06016, 19 PP., 2010
doi:10.1029/2010GC003053 [Citation]

Convective heat transfer in planetary dynamo models

Eric M. King

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA

Krista M. Soderlund

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA

Ulrich R. Christensen

Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Johannes Wicht

Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Jonathan M. Aurnou

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA

The magnetic fields of planets and stars are generated by the motions of electrically conducting fluids within them. These fluid motions are thought to be driven by convective processes, as internal heat is transported outward. The efficiency with which heat is transferred by convection is integral in understanding dynamo processes. Several heat transfer scaling laws have been proposed, but the range of parameter space to which they apply has not been firmly established. Following the plane layer convection study by King et al. (2009), we explore a broad range of buoyancy forcing (Ra) and rotation strength (E−1) to show that heat transfer (Nu) in spherical dynamo simulations occurs in two distinct regimes. We argue that heat transfer scales as NuRa6/5 in the rapidly rotating regime and NuRa2/7 in the weakly rotating regime. The transition between these two regimes is controlled by the competition between the thermal and viscous boundary layers. Boundary layer scaling theory allows us to predict that the transition between the regimes occurs at a transitional Rayleigh number, Rat = E−7/4. Furthermore, boundary layer control of heat transfer is shown to relate to the interior temperature profiles of the models. In the weakly rotating regime, the interior fluid is nearly adiabatic. In the rapidly rotating regime, adverse mean temperature gradients abide, irrespective of the Reynolds number (Re). Extrapolating our results to Earth's core, we estimate that core convection resides in the rapidly rotating regime, with Ra ≈ 2 × 1024 (Ra/Rat ≈ 0.02), corresponding to a superadiabatic density variation of Δρ/ρo ≈ 10−7, which is significantly below the sensitivity of present seismic observations.

Received 21 January 2010; accepted 13 April 2010; published 29 June 2010.

Citation: King, E. M., K. M. Soderlund, U. R. Christensen, J. Wicht, and J. M. Aurnou (2010), Convective heat transfer in planetary dynamo models, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 11, Q06016, doi:10.1029/2010GC003053.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...