Logos LIMSI & FAST

Séminaire de Mécanique d'Orsay

Le Jeudi 29 mars 2018 à 14h00 - Nouveau bâtiment FAST

Mixing in heterogeneous internally-heated convection

Angela Limare
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

Past laboratory experiments of thermo chemical convection have dealt with systems involving fluids with different intrinsic densities and viscosities in a Rayleigh-Bénard setup. Although these experiments have greatly improved our understanding of the Earth's mantle dynamics, they neglect a fundamental component of planetary convection: internal heat sources. We have developed a microwave-based method in order to study convection and mixing in systems involving two layers of fluid with different densities, viscosities, and internal heat production rates, allowing to reach the high Rayleigh-Roberts and Prandtl numbers that are relevant for planetary convection. I will illustrate the potential of our technique with a few examples of convection experiments of an initially stably stratified system where the lower layer has higher internal heat production and density than the upper layer. Due to mixing, the amount of enriched material gradually decreases to zero over a finite time called the lifetime. Based on more than 30 experiments, I will present the derived scaling law that relates the lifetime of an enriched reservoir to the layer thickness ratio, to the density, viscosity and internal heat production rate contrasts between the two layers, and to the temperature scale imposed by the global heating rate. I will discuss the differences with respect to Rayleigh-Bénard convection. In the end I will speculate on the geophysical implications of upscalling our results to the Earth's mantle.

Accès Nouveau bâtiment FAST