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Simultaneous generation of hotspots and superswells by convection in a heterogeneous planetary mantle

Nature volume 402, pages 756–760 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates that the Earth's mantle is chemically heterogeneous. To understand the forms that convection might take in such a mantle, I have conducted laboratory experiments on thermochemical convection in a fluid with stratified density and viscosity. For intermediate density contrasts, a ‘doming’ regime of convection is observed, in which hot domes oscillate vertically through the whole layer while thin tubular plumes rise from their upper surfaces. These plumes could be responsible for the ‘hot spots’ and the domes themselves for the ‘superwells’ observed at the Earth's surface. In the Earth's mantle, the doming regime should occur for density contrasts less than about 1%. Moreover, quantitative scaling laws derived from the experiments show that the mantle might have evolved from strictly stratified convection 4 Gyr ago to doming today. Thermochemical convection can thus reconcile the survival of geochemically distinct reservoirs with the small amplitude of present-day density heterogeneities inferred from seismology and mineral physics.

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Figure 1: Snapshots and vertical temperature structure for the different regimes of convection.
Figure 2: Different convective regimes as a function of the buoyancy ratio Rρ and the viscosity ratio γ.
Figure 3: Doming regime.
Figure 4: Critical density contrast Δρ/ρ calculated from equation (2) as a function of the temperature difference ΔT driving convection.
Figure 5: Volumetric entrainment rate of a cylindrical plume as a function of (γRρ)-1.

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Acknowledgements

I thank C. Allègre, C. Jaupart, K. Turekian, P. Molnar, N. Ribe and G. Veronis for discussions; G. Bienfait, F. Girard, A. Lee, W. Phelps and W. Sacco for help in the laboratory; and M. McNutt, M. Manga and P. Tackley for comments on the manuscript. Part of this work was done at the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, USA.

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  1. Laboratoire de Dynamique des Systèmes Géologiques, IPG, 4 Place Jussieu, Paris, cedex 05, 75252, France

    Anne Davaille

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Correspondence to Anne Davaille.

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Davaille, A. Simultaneous generation of hotspots and superswells by convection in a heterogeneous planetary mantle. Nature 402, 756–760 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45461

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