Mantle geophysics: Variable viscosity makes waves

Maths Makes Waves!

Waves are everywhere, from the smallest scales to the largest, from waves which oscillate in a pico second, to ones which change over may years, and from waves with length scales smaller than the size of the atom, to waves which stress across the galaxy. Waves lie at the heart of much of modern technology, physics, chemistry, biology, medical imaging, music, popular culture and are all around u...

Geophysics. A new paradigm for Earth's core-mantle boundary.

Geophysics. Are Earth's core and mantle on speaking terms?

Multigrid iterative algorithm using pseudo-compressibility for three-dimensional mantle convection with strongly variable viscosity

A numerical algorithm for solving mantle convection problems with strongly variable viscosity is presented. Equations for conservation of mass and momentum for highly viscous and incompressible fluids are solved iteratively by a multigrid method in combination with pseudo-compressibility and local time stepping techniques. This algorithm is suitable for large-scale three-dimensional numerical s...

Viscosity jump in Earth's mid-mantle.

The viscosity structure of Earth's deep mantle affects the thermal evolution of Earth, the ascent of mantle plumes, settling of subducted oceanic lithosphere, and the mixing of compositional heterogeneities in the mantle. Based on a reanalysis of the long-wavelength nonhydrostatic geoid, we infer viscous layering of the mantle using a method that allows us to avoid a priori assumptions about it...