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Plume formation in the D″-layer and the roughness of the core–mantle boundary

Nature volume 327, pages 409–413 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Numerical simulations of the formation of thermal plumes in the D″-layer at the base of the Earth's mantle show that plumes are initiated by coalescence of small-scale convective instabilities within the low viscosity region immediately above the core–mantle boundary (CMB). These instabilities support topographic roughness on the CMB having horizontal scales of 20–50 km and provide a source for scattered P-waves seen as precursors to the phases PKIKP and PKKP. The calculated structure of fully developed plumes emerging from D″ consists of 5–50 cm yr−1 flow confined to 50–100 km thick vertical conduits. With strongly temperature-dependent viscosity, plumes exhibit time-dependent behaviour, including upward propagating solitary conduit waves, which may contribute to episodicity in hotspot volcanism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA

    Peter Olson

  2. Department of Earth & Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Gerald Schubert

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS J576, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

    Charles Anderson

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  1. Peter Olson
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  2. Gerald Schubert
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Olson, P., Schubert, G. & Anderson, C. Plume formation in the D″-layer and the roughness of the core–mantle boundary. Nature 327, 409–413 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/327409a0

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