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1.
Summary The problem of expressing analytically the magnetic torque, acting on the electrically conducting part of the Earth's mantle, is treated as a function of the system of convection on the surface of the core. The changes of velocities in the system of convection are estimated for decadic changes of the Earth's rotation and for the perturbation of the Earth's rotation in 1897. As regards the decadic changes of the Earth's rotation a change of velocity in the system of convection at the surface of the core of the order of 10–4 m/s corresponds, and as regards the perturbation of the Earth's rotation in 1897 (10–3 s/year) a change of velocity of 10–3 m/s reduced to the whole surface of the core corresponds, and 10–2 m/s corresponds for the region of the focus of the world geomagnetic anomaly (dimension of this region is 106 m). 相似文献
2.
Although vigorous mantle convection early in the thermal history of the Earth is shown to be capable of removing several times the latent heat content of the core, we are able to construct a thermal evolution model of the Earth in which the core does not solidify. The large amount of energy removed from the model Earth's core by mantle convection is supplied by the internal energy of the core which is assumed to cool from an initial high temperature given by the silicate melting temperature at the core-mantle boundary. For the smaller terrestrial planets, the iron and silicate melting temperatures at the core-mantle boundaries are more comparable than for the Earth, and the cores of these planets may not possess enough internal energy to prevent core solidification by mantle convection. Our models incorporate temperature-dependent mantle viscosity and radiogenic heat sources in the mantle. The Earth models are constrained by the present surface heat flux and mantle viscosity. Internal heat sources produce only about 55% of the Earth model's present surface heat flow. 相似文献
3.
The Earth's mantle contains a mixture of primordial noble gases, in particular solar-type helium and neon, and radiogenic rare gases from long-lived U, 232Th, 40K and short-lived 129I, 244Pu. Rocks derived from deep mantle plume magmatism like on Hawaii or Iceland contain a higher proportion of primordial nuclides than rocks from the shallow upper mantle, e.g. mid ocean ridge basalts (MORBs). This is widely regarded as the key evidence for survival of a less degassed and more “primitive” reservoir within the lower mantle. We present an evaluation of noble gas composition showing the shallow mantle to have about five times more radiogenic (relative to primordial) isotopes than Hawaii/Iceland-type plume reservoirs, no matter if short- or long-lived decay systems are considered. This fundamental property suggests that both MORB and plume-type noble gases are mixtures of: (1) a homogeneous radiogenic component present throughout most of the mantle and (2) a uniform primordial noble gas component with very minor radiogenic ingrowth. This conclusion depends crucially on the observed excess of radiogenic Xe in plume-derived rocks, and is only valid if this Xe excess is inherent to the plume sources.Possible sources of the primordial component of mantle plume reservoirs—and possibly also the MORB mantle—could be mantle reservoirs that remained relatively isolated over most of Earth's history (“blobs”, a deep abyssal layer, or the D” layer), but these need a considerable concentration of primordial gases to compensate U, Th, K decay over 4.5 Ga. Earth's core is evaluated as an alternative viable source feeding primordial nuclides into mantle reservoirs: even low metal-silicate partitioning coefficients allow sufficient primordial noble gases to be incorporated into the early forming core, as the undifferentiated proto-Earth was initially gas-rich. Massive mantle degassing soon after core formation then provides the opposite concentration gradient that allows primordial noble gases reentering the mantle at the core-mantle boundary, probably via partial mantle melts. Another possible source of primordial noble gases in Earth's mantle are subducted sediments containing extraterrestrial dust with solar He and Ne, but this supply mechanism crucially depends on largely unconstrained parameters. The latter two scenarios do not require the preservation of a “primitive” mantle reservoir over 4.5 Ga, and can potentially better reconcile increasing geochemical evidence of recycled lithospheric components in mantle plumes and seismic evidence for whole mantle convection. 相似文献
4.
Fractionation between the metal and silicate components of objects in the inner solar system has long been recognized as a necessity in order to explain the observed density variations of the terrestrial planets and the H-group, L-group dichotomy of the ordinary chondrites. This paper discusses the densities of the terrestrial planets in light of current physical and chemical models of processes in the solar nebula. It is shown that the observed density trends in the inner solar system need not be the result of special fractionation processes, and that the densities of the planets may be direct results of simultaneous application of both physical and chemical restraints on the structure of the nebula, most notably the variation of temperature with heliocentric distance. The density of Mercury is easily attributed to accretion at temperatures so high that MgSiO3 is only partially retained but Fe metal is condensed. The densities of the other terrestrial planets are shown to be due to different degrees of retention of S, O and H as FeS, FeO and hydrous silicates produced in chemical equilibrium between condensates and solar-composition gases. It is proposed that Mercury and Venus Have cores of Fe0, Earth has a core of Fe0 containing substantial amounts of FeS, and Mars has a quite small core of FeS with more FeO in its mantle than in Earth's. Geophysical and geochemical consequences of these conclusions are discussed. 相似文献
5.
We present here a new model of core formation which is based on the current understanding of planetary accretion and discuss its implications for the chemistry of the Earth's mantle and core. Formation of the Earth by hierarchical accretion of progressively larger bodies on a time scale much longer than that of solid body differentiation in the nebula indicates that a significant fraction of metal in the core could be inherited from preterrestrially differentiated planetesimals. An analysis of the segregation of this iron to form the core suggests that most of the metal settles to the core without interaction with silicates; only a small fraction of the metal chemically equilibrates at high temperatures and pressures with the silicates. The siderophile element abundances in the mantle are considered to be a consequence of a two-step equilibration with iron, once preterrestrially in the planetesimals at low temperatures and pressures, and later in the Earth at high temperatures and pressures. The highly siderophile elements such as Re, Au and the platinum group elements in the mantle are essentially excluded from silicates from the preterrestrial equilibration. We attribute the abundances of these elements in the mantle to the later equilibration in the Earth at substantially reduced metal-silicate partition coefficients (Dmet/sil), for which there is a considerable experimental evidence now. Mass balance considerations constrain the fraction of core metal involved in such an equilibration at approximately 0.3 – 0.5%. The model accounts for the levels and the near-chondritic ratios of the highly siderophile elements in the mantle. The mantle abundances of the less siderophile elements are largely determined by preterrestrial metal-silicate equilibrium and are not significantly affected by the second equilibration. The extreme depletion of sulfur and the lack of silicate melt-sulfide signature in the noble metal abundances in the mantle are natural consequences of this mode of core formation. Sulfur was added to the magma ocean during the high-T, high-P equilibration in the Earth, not extracted from it by sulfide segregation to the core. Except for Ni and Co, the overall siderophile abundances of the mantle can be well matched in this two-step equilibration model.
The mantle characteristics of Ni and Co are unique to the Earth and hence suggest a terrestrial process as the likely cause. One such process is the flotation and addition of olivine to the primitive upper mantle. In our model of core formation, neither the elemental and isotopic data of Re---Os, nor the low sulfur content of the mantle remains as an objection to the existence of a magma ocean and olivine flotation.
The small fraction of core metal that equilibrates with silicates at high T and P suggests that the light elements O, Si or H are unimportant in the core, leaving S (and possibly C) as prime candidates. Sulfur, as FeS associated with incoming iron metal, is directly sequestered to the core along with the bulk of the iron metal. It appears unlikely that other light elements can be added to the core after its formation. U and Th are excluded from the core but the model allows for entry of some K; however, the extent to which K serves as a heat source in the core remains uncertain.
The model is testable in two ways. One is by investigation of the metal-silicate partitioning at high temperatures and pressures under magma ocean conditions to determine if the (Dmet/sil) values are lowered to the levels required in the model. The other is by experiments to determine if a solvus closure between metal and silicate liquids occurs at high temperatures relevant to a magma ocean. 相似文献
6.
地球形成初期,构成地球的物质在组成上是大致均一的.目前地球的地核-地幔-地壳圈层结构,是由分异作用形成的.分异过程释放的能量称为分异能.Sorokhtin和Chilingarian等人从行星吸积的定义出发,导出了基于地球内部密度分布的势能计算公式,计算出的分异能大小为1.698×1031J.本文采用计算球体势能的思路,导出分异能计算的解析公式和数值计算公式,通过求取原始地球模型与均匀分层模型、PREM模型的势能差计算分异能.两种方法的计算结果分别为1.535×1031J和1.698×1031J.前者与Sorokhtin等的结果相近,后者与之相同.本文初步分析了方法间的异同以及造成结果偏差的主要原因. 相似文献
7.
Parameterized thermal model of a mixed mantle convection 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
IntroductionTectonicevolutionisinfluencedbythermalhistoryoftheEarth.TheEarthhasabout4.6Gahistory.ThermalenergyfromtheinterioroftheEachprovidesthemainpowerfortectonicevolution.ItnotonlycontrolstheformationofthelayeredstructuresinsidetheEarth,butalsopromotesthetectonicmovementsofthesurfaceplatesduringthegeologicalera.ThestudyofthethermalhistoryoftheEarthhaspassedseveralstages.Inearlystudies,onlyconductivemechanism(Lubimova,1958)isdiscussedinthethermalevolution.However,theimpotalceofthermalco… 相似文献
8.
Hans-Peter Plag Bjrn Engen Thomas A. Clark John J. Degnan Bernd Richter 《Journal of Geodynamics》1998,25(3-4)
The WEGENER† activities related to the study of post-glacial rebound are presented together with a review of the present state-of-the-art in this study field. Post-glacial rebound research is an unique tool for studying the viscoelastic behaviour of the Earth's mantle on time scales of thousands of years. The viscosity structure of the Earth's mantle determined from an inversion of observations of glacially induced deformations is a basic requirement for modelling long-term phenomena such as the convection in the Earth's mantle, and for better understanding unsolved questions such as the nature of the mantle discontinuities or the vertical scale of convection.First, an introduction to the scientific background is given, and the three principal ingredients for post-glacial rebound studies, namely the ice model, the Earth model, and the observations are briefly considered. For the ice model, the uncertainties due to a trade-off between ice model and Earth rheology are outlined. The different approaches used to model the Earth and its deformations in post-glacial rebound studies are discussed emphasising the preliminary nature of the derived rheologies and depth dependencies. The observations, in particular the relative sea-level changes and three-dimensional surface deformations, are described with special emphasis on observational gaps. Based on the discussion of the ingredients, an outline of the future developments in post-glacial rebound research is attempted with particular emphasis on the Earth model and the theory of deformations.For several decades extreme efforts have been made to precisely monitor the land uplift in Scandinavia. However, for the height component the existing data still are associated with large uncertainties while reliable data on the horizontal component are practically nil. The ongoing long-term (longer than ten years) spacegeodetic measurements are likely to provide the three-dimensional deformations with the spatial resolution and accuracy required in order to substantially contribute to post-glacial rebound studies. Thus, present-day three-dimensional deformations of the Earth's surface beneath and around the former ice sheets as a constraint for the mantle rheology and viscosity structure will increasingly become important as they become known from space-geodetic measurements with high spatial resolution and an accuracy approaching the mm/a-level. 相似文献
9.
V. P. Trubitsyn A. N. Evseev M. N. Evseev A. V. Evseeva 《Izvestiya Physics of the Solid Earth》2013,49(5):660-667
Thermal convection in the mantle is caused by the heat transported upwards from the core and by the heat produced by the internal radioactive sources. According to the data on the heat transfer by the mantle plumes and geochemical evidence, only 20% of the total heat of the Earth is supplied to the mantle from the core, whereas most of the heat is generated by the internal sources. Along with the models that correctly allow for the internal heat sources, there are also many publications (including monographs) on the models of mantle convection that completely ignore the internal heating or the heat flux from below. In this study, we analyze to what extent these approximations could be correct. The analytical distributions of temperature and heat flux in the case of internal heating without convection and the results of the numerical modeling for convection with different intensity are presented. It is shown that the structure of thermal convection is governed by the distribution of the heat flux in the mantle but not by the heat balance, as it is typically implicitly assumed in most works. Heat production by the internal sources causes the growth of the heat flux as a function of radius. However, in the spherical mantle of the Earth, the heat flux decreases with radius due to the geometry. It turned out that with the parameters of the present Earth, both these effects compensate each other to a considerable extent, and the resulting heat flux turns out to be nearly constant as a function of radius. Since the structure of the convective flows in the mantle is determined by the distributions of heat flux and total heat flux, in the Cartesian models of the mantle convection the effective contribution of internal heating is small, and ignoring the heat flux from the core significantly distorts the structure of the convective currents and temperature distributions in the mantle. 相似文献
10.
基于PREM模型，利用非自转、球型分层、各向同性、理想弹性（SNREI）地球的形变理论，讨论了地球在不同驱动力作用下的形变特征．采用地球位移场方程的4阶Runge Kutta数值积分方法，解算了在表面负荷和日月引潮力作用下地球表面和内部形变和扰动位，并给出了地球表面的负荷Love数和体潮Love数．结果表明在固体内核中的形变很小，液核中低阶(n＜10)负荷位移随半径的变化非常复杂．当负荷阶数超过10时，地核中的形变和扰动位都很小，地球的响应主要表现为弹性地幔中的径向位移，且随深度增加急剧减弱，负荷阶数越高这种衰减的速度越快．SNREI地球的地表负荷Love数和体潮Love数与信号频率的依赖关系很弱．在计算体潮Love数的过程中，采用了SNREI地球的运动方程，同时考虑了由于地球自转和椭率引起的核幔边界附加压力，这一近似处理方法获得的结果能很好地符合地球表面重力潮汐实际观测结果． 相似文献
11.
Frank D. Stacey 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》1980,22(2):89-96
By treating the lithosphere as a diffusive boundary layer to mantle convection, the convective speed or mantle creep rate, , can be related to the mantle-derived heat flux, . If cell size is independent of then . (If cell size varies with , then a different power law prevails, but the essential conclusions are unaffected.) Then the factthat for constant thermodynamic efficiency of mantle convection, the mechanical power dissipation is proportionalto , gives convective stress , i.e. the stress increases as the convection slows. This means an increasing viscosityor stiffness of the mantle which can be identified with a cooling rate in terms of a temperature-dependent creep law. If we suppose that the mantle was at or close to its melting point within 1 or 2 × 108 years of accretionof the Earth, the whole scale of cooling is fixed. The present rate of cooling is estimated to be about 4.6 × 10?8 deg y?1 for the average mantle temperature, assumed to be 2500 K, but this very slow cooling rate represents a loss ofresidual mantle heat of 7 × 1012 W, about 30% of the total mantle-derived heat flux. This conclusion requires theEarth to be deficient in radioactive heat, relative to carbonaceous chondrites. A consideration of mantle outgassing and atmospheric argon leads to the conclusion that the deficiency is due to depletion of potassium, and that the K/U ratio of the mantle is only about 2500, much less than either the crustal or carbonaceous chondritic values. Thetotal terrestrial potassium is estimated to be about 6 × 1020 kg. Acceptance of the cooling of the Earth removes the necessity for potassium in the core. 相似文献
12.
Iron isotope fractionation during planetary differentiation 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
Stefan Weyer Ariel D. Anbar Carsten Münker Alan B. Woodland 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》2005,240(2):251-264
The Fe isotope composition of samples from the Moon, Mars (SNC meteorites), HED parent body (eucrites), pallasites (metal and silicate) and the Earth's mantle were measured using high mass resolution MC-ICP-MS. These high precision measurements (δ56Fe ≈ ± 0.04‰, 2 S.D.) place tight constraints on Fe isotope fractionation during planetary differentiation.Fractionation during planetary core formation is confined to < 0.1‰ for δ56Fe by the indistinguishable Fe isotope composition of pallasite bulk metal (including sulfides and phosphides) and olivine separates. However, large isotopic variations (≈ 0.5‰) were observed among pallasite metal separates, varying systematically with the amounts of troilite, schreibersite, kamacite and taenite. Troilite generally has the lightest (δ56Fe ≈ − 0.25‰) and schreibersite the heaviest (δ56Fe ≈ + 0.2‰) Fe isotope composition. Taenite is heavier then kamacite. Therefore, these variations probably reflect Fe isotope fractionation during the late stage evolution and differentiation of the S- and P-rich metal melts, and during low-temperature kamacite exsolution, rather than fractionation during silicate-metal separation.Differentiation of the silicate portion of planets also seems to fractionate Fe isotopes. Notably, magmatic rocks (partial melts) are systematically isotopically heavier than their mantle protoliths. This is indicated by the mean of 11 terrestrial peridotite samples from different tectonic settings (δ56Fe = + 0.015 ± 0.018‰), which is significantly lighter than the mean of terrestrial basalts (δ56Fe = + 0.076 ± 0.029‰). We consider the peridotite mean to be the best estimate for the Fe isotope composition of the bulk silicate Earth, and probably also of bulk Earth. The terrestrial basaltic mean is in good agreement with the mean of the lunar samples (δ56Fe = + 0.073 ± 0.019‰), excluding the high-Ti basalts. The high-Ti basalts display the heaviest Fe isotope composition of all rocks measured here (δ56Fe ≈ + 0.2‰). This is interpreted as a fingerprint of the lunar magma ocean, which produced a very heterogeneous mantle, including the ilmenite-rich source regions of these basalts.Within uncertainties, samples from Mars (SNC meteorites), HED (eucrites) and the pallasites (average olivine + metal) have the same Fe isotope compositions as the Earth's mantle. This indicates that the solar system is very homogeneous in Fe isotopes. Its average δ56Fe is very close to that of the IRMM-014 standard. 相似文献
13.
Recognition that the cooling of the core is accomplished by conduction of heat into a thermal boundary layer (D″) at the base of the mantle, partly decouples calculations of the thermal histories of the core and mantle. Both are controlled by the temperature-dependent rheology of the mantle, but in different ways. Thermal parameters of the Earth are more tightly constrained than hitherto by demanding that they satisfy both core and mantle histories. We require evolution from an early state, in which the temperatures of the top of the core and the base of the mantle were both very close to the mantle solidus, to the present state in which a temperature increment, estimated to be ～ 800 K, has developed across D″. The thermal history is not very dependent upon the assumption of Newtonian or non-Newtonian mantle rheology. The thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle (i.e., D″) developed within the first few hundred million years and the temperature increment across it is still increasing slowly. In our preferred model the present temperature at the top of the core is 3800 K and the mantle temperature, extrapolated to the core boundary without the thermal boundary layer, is 3000 K. The mantle solidus is 3860 K. These temperatures could be varied within quite wide limits without seriously affecting our conclusions. Core gravitational energy release is found to have been remarkably constant at ～ 3 × 1011 W. nearly 20% of the core heat flux, for the past 3 × 109 y, although the total terrestrial heat flux has decreased by a factor of 2 or 3 in that time. This gravitational energy can power the “chemical” dynamo in spite of a core heat flux that is less than that required by conduction down an adiabatic gradient in the outer core; part of the gravitational energy is used to redistribute the excess heat back into the core, leaving 1.8 × 1011 W to drive the dynamo. At no time was the dynamo thermally driven and the present radioactive heating in the core is negligibly small. The dynamo can persist indefinitely into the future; available power 1010 y from now is estimated to be 0.3 × 1011 W if linear mantle rheology is assumed or more if mantle rheology is non-linear. The assumption that the gravitational constant decreases with time imposes an implausible rate of decrease in dynamo energy. With conventional thermodynamics it also requires radiogenic heating of the mantle considerably in excess of the likely content of radioactive elements. 相似文献
14.
《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》2005,148(2-4):109-130
In an effort to resolve the current conflict between geochemical requirements for an apparently isolated mantle reservoir and recent geophysical evidence for whole-mantle convection, we investigate the possibility that the region above the core-mantle boundary, termed D″, serves as an early-isolated, rare-gas- and incompatible-element-bearing reservoir, and we propose a mechanism for its formation that is a likely outcome of Earth accretion models. In these models, the most cataclysmic event in Earth history, the moon-forming giant impact on the proto-Earth of a Mars-size planet (perhaps as early as 4540 Ma ago) was followed by accretion of smaller bodies long afterwards (until ∼3900 Ma). Some collisions probably triggered melting, metal segregation and degassing. However, the small bodies, fragments, particles, dust, including those of chondrite-like composition, existed on near-earth orbits, were irradiated by intense solar wind, and finally fell on an early-formed, incompatible-element-enriched basaltic crust without causing extensive melting. The respective regions of the crust, loaded with chondrite-like debris, were therefore significantly enriched in iron. When this mixed material was subducted, the bulk density of the subducted lithosphere exceeded that of the bulk silicate mantle, which had already lost its metallic iron to the core. Segregation of this denser material at the base of the mantle was facilitated by the high temperatures at the core-mantle boundary, which greatly reduce the viscosity, as was quantitatively modelled by Christensen and Hofmann (Christensen, U.R., Hofmann, A.W., 1994. Segregation of subducted oceanic-crust in the convecting mantle. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 99 (B10), 19867–19884). Assuming a basalt/chondrite mass ratio of about 4/1, we obtain a density contrast of ∼7%, which would stabilize the subducted material between the metal core and silicate mantle.Mass balance considerations and preliminary results of geochemical modelling of the above scenario (similar to that performed by Tolstikhin and Marty [Tolstikhin, I.N., Marty, B., 1998. The evolution of terrestrial volatiles, A view from helium, neon, argon and nitrogen isotope modeling. Chem. Geol. 147, 27–52]) show the potential geochemical importance of D″. (1) Modelling of Pu–U–I–Xe isotope systematics predicts formation of this reservoir early in Earth history, ∼100 Ma after formation of the Solar system. (2) The total amount of heat-generating U, Th, K (and other highly incompatible elements) in D″ exceeds 20% of the Earth inventory, and a similar portion of terrestrial heat is being transferred from the core + D″ into the base of the overlying convecting mantle. (3) D″ is enriched in solar implanted rare gases because the small (re)-accreting debris with high surface/mass ratios will have been subjected to intense radiation by the early sun. (4) Rare gases diffuse from D″ into the overlying mantle and are then transferred into upwelling plumes, which originate above D″. In addition, small amounts of D″ material may be entrained by the mantle convective flow as was recently discussed by Schott et al. [Schott, B., Yuen, D.A., Braun, A., 2002. The influences of composition and temperature-dependent rheology in thermal-chemical convection on entrainment of the D″ layer. Physics Earth Planet. Inter. 129, 43–65]. From the rare-gas modelling it follows that initially (∼4500 Ma ago) D″ could have been more massive by a factor of ∼1.2 than at present (about 2 × 1026 g). The present-day mass flux from D″ into the convecting mantle is estimated to be ≤0.05 × 1016 g year−1, a factor of ∼100 less than the rate of ridge magmatism. This small contribution of D″ material makes it difficult to trace fingerprints of D″ even using such sensitive tracers as Pb isotope ratios. (5) The density contrast that stabilizes D″ is maintained by its higher intrinsic density due to the iron-rich chondrite-like component. Subduction of this material, its entrainment by convective mantle flow and mixing could also account for the preservation of the chondritic relative abundances of siderophile elements in the mantle. If D″ is partially molten, the density contrast may be caused by a high-density melt fraction. 相似文献
15.
Estimates of the chemical composition of the Archaean mantle, derived from elemental abundance ratios in komatiites combined with ultramafic xenolith data, support a model of a multistage heterogeneous accretion history of the Earth and synchronous core formation, 4.6 Ga ago.Most refractory lithophile element abundance ratios in komatiites and xenoliths are close to chondritic except for V/Ti and Ca/Al. Depletion of vanadium is likely due to its partial incorporation into the iron core; whereas fractionation of Ca/Al observed in Archaean Al-undepleted komatiites (1.20 times chondrites) and in some modern fertile spinel lherzolite xenoliths (1.15 times chondrites) could be due to small amounts of garnet (rich in Al but poor in Ca) segregation into the lower mantle during partial or complete melting of the upper mantle in the very early history of the Earth. However, this process may have had only a small effect on the overall chemical composition of the upper mantle.Simultaneous occurrence of early Archaean Al-undepleted (Al/Ti chondrites) and Al-depleted (Al/Ti 0.5 chondrites, and depletion of Sc and heavy REE) peridotitic komatiites in the Barberton area, S. Africa, and late Archaean Newton Township, Canada, argue against derivation of peridotitic komatiites from a circum-global magma ocean. Garnet separation from a mantle diapir which intersects the solidus at great depth ( 200 km) in a hotter early Archaean mantle could explain the chemical characteristics of Al-depleted komatiites. Alternatively, these two types of komatiites could have been derived from different layers in a fractionated mantle. A limited amount of Hf isotope data for Archaean komatiites seems to suggest that both mechanisms are important. This chemically and minerallogically layered mantle, if it existed, was homogenized by mantle convection after early Archaean times.Constant P2O5/TiO2, Ni/Mg, Co/Mg, Fe/Mg ratios (siderophile/lithophile) and PGE abundances, estimated for the mantle sources of komatiites from Archaean to modern times, strongly argue against continuous growth of the Earth's core since the early Archaean.Extensive crustal contamination might have been involved in the generation of Archaean-early Proterozoic siliceous high magnesian basalts with “boninite affinity”. However, involvement of chemically modified ancient continental lithosphere may also be important in the generation of these basalts. 相似文献
16.
Siegfried Franck Christine Bounama 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》1997,100(1-4):189-196
We investigate the thermal and degassing history of the Earth with the help of a parameterized mantle convection model including the volatile exchange between mantle and surface reservoirs. The weakening of mantle silicates by dissolved volatiles is described by a functional relationship between creep rate and water fugacity. We use flow law parameters of diffusion creep in olivine under dry and wet conditions. The mantle degassing rate is considered as directly proportional to the seafloor spreading rate, which is also dependent on the mantle heat flow and the continental area. To calculate the spreading rate, we assume three different continental growth models: constant growth, delayed growth, and the one proposed by Reymer and Schubert (1984, Tectonics, 3: 63–77). The rate of regassing also depends on the seafloor spreading rate, as well as on other factors. Both mechanisms (degassing and regassing) are coupled self-consistently with the help of a parameterized convection model under implementation of a temperature and volatile-content dependent mantle viscosity. We calculate time series for the Earth's evolution over 4.6 Gyr for the average mantle temperature, the mantle heat flow, the mantle viscosity, the Rayleigh number, the Urey ratio, the volatile loss, and the seafloor spreading rate. In those numerical simulations with continental growth from the beginning and a high initial average mantle temperature water is outgassed rapidly. In the delayed continental growth model there is a very early outgassing event and the delayed continental growth has no remarkable influence on the thermal and outgassing history. A similar situation is found for the linear continental growth model but not for the Reymer and Schubert (1984) model. 相似文献
17.
Peter Varga 《Pure and Applied Geophysics》1974,112(5):777-785
Summary The question this paper is examining is the following: to what extent are the Love numbers dependent on certain characteristics of the inner structure of the Earth? It has been proven — on the basis of calculations carried out by the author-that these quantities are only in a small degree dependent on the density values measured on the surface of the Earth and on the selection of the density function in the mantle of the Earth. On the other hand the value of Love numbersh, k andl is considerably influenced by the assumptions made about the core of the Earth, namely by the position of the boundary between the core and the mantle and by the magnitude of the rigidity coefficient presumed in the core in the vicinity of the core-mantle boundary.The results of the calculations are compared with those mean values of Love numbers obtained from the data of stations operating at different places of the Earth. By reason of this it can be assumed that the core of the Earth has, in the vicinity of the core-mantle boundary, a coefficient of effective rigidity of the order of 1010 dyn/cm2, if the core-mantle boundary is placed at the relative Earth radius of 0.545 from the centre of the Earth. 相似文献
18.
We present a broad-based review of the observational evidence that pertains to or otherwise implies solid-state convection to be occurring (or have occurred) in the interiors of the terrestrial planets.For the Earth, the motion of the plates is prima facie evidence of large-scale mantle convection. Provided we understand upper-mantle thermal conductivity correctly, heat flow beneath the old ocean basins may be too high to be transported conductively from the upper mantle through the base of the lithosphere and therefore convection on a second smaller scale might be operative. The horizontal scale of plate dimensions implies, due to typical cell aspect ratios observed in convection, that the motion extends to the core-mantle boundary. Improved global data coverage and viscoelastic modeling of isostatic rebound due to Pleistocene deglaciation imply a uniform mantle viscosity, and thus indicate that whole-mantle convection could exist. Additionally, there is some seismic evidence of lithospheric penetration to depths deeper than 700 km. We discuss some salient features and assumption boundedness of arguments for convection confined to the upper mantle and for convection which acts throughout the mantle since the vertical length scale has a profound effect upon the relevance of geophysical observations. The horizontal form of mantle convection may be fully three-dimensional with complex planform and, therefore, searching for correlative gravity patterns in the ocean basins may not be useful without additional geophysical constraints. Many long-wavelength gravity anomalies may arise from beneath the lithosphere and must be supported dynamically, although thermal convection is not a unique explanation. Topography is an additional geophysical constraint, but for wavelengths greater than a few hundred kilometers, a general lack of correlation exists between oceanic residual gravity and topography, except at specific locations such as Hawaii. Theoretical calculations predict a complex relationship between these two observational types. Oceanic gravity data alone shows no regular planform and there is no correlation with any small-scale convective pattern predicted by laboratory experiments.All of the observational evidence argues against Martian plate tectonics occurring now or over much of the history of this planet, but lack of plate tectonics is not an argument against interior convection. The Tharsis uplift on Mars may have resulted from convective processes in the mantle, and the present-day gravity anomaly associated with Tharsis must be supported by the finite strength of the lithosphere or by mantle convection. Stresses imparted by the present topographic load would be greater than a kilobar, in excess of long-term finite strength. Observed fracture patterns are probably a direct result of this load, and the key question concerns the level of resultant strain relief. The global topographic and geomorphic dichotomy between the northern and southern hemisphere required a solid-state flow process to create the accompanying center-of-figure to center-of-mass offset.Lunar heat flow values, in analogy with oceanic heat flow on the Earth, strongly imply a convective mechanism of heat transport in the interior which, based on seismic Q values, is limited to the lower mantle. The presence of moonquakes in this region does not preclude solid-state convective processes. Lunar conductivity profiles provide no information on convection because of the difficulty in conductivity modeling, uniqueness of models, and the uncertainty in the conductivity-temperature relationship. The excess oblateness of the lunar figure over the hydrostatic value does not require convective support; in fact, such a mechanism is unlikely.The presence of a dipole magnetic field on Mercury does not provide a constraint on mantle convection unless its existence can be inextricably linked to a molten core. The non-hydrostatic shape of the equatorial figure, required for the observed resonance between Mercury's rotational and orbital periods, is most likely related to surface processes, as opposed to convection. The resonance implies escape from a 2n resonance and, therefore, is related to the question of a molten core. Further dynamical data is needed to constrain interior models.Interpretation of limited radar imagery for the surface of Venus is enigmatic in terms of plate tectonics and therefore interior convection. Linear tensional and possibly compressional features are observed, but there are also crustal regions which appear to show large impact structures and are thus geologically old and may not have been recycled. 相似文献
19.
Sean C. Solomon 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》1979,19(2):168-182
The cores of the terrestrial planets Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars differ substantially in size and in history. Though no planet other than the Earth has a conclusively demonstrated core, the probable cores in Mercury and Mars and Earth's core show a decrease in relative core size with solar distance. The Moon does not fit this sequence and Venus may not. Core formation must have been early (prior to ～4 · 109 yr. ago) in the Earth, by virtue of the existence of ancient rock units and ancient paleomagnetism and from UPb partitioning arguments, and in Mercury, because the consequences of core infall would have included extensional tectonic features which are not observed even on Mercury's oldest terrain. If a small core exists in the Moon, still an open question, completion of core formation may be placed several hundred million years after the end of heavy bombardment on tectonic and thermal grounds. Core formation time on Mars is loosely constrained, but may have been substantially later than for the other terrestrial planets. The magnitude and extent of early heating to drive global differentiation appear to have decreased with distance from the sun for at least the smaller bodies Mercury, Moon and Mars.Energy sources to maintain a molten state and to fuel convection and magnetic dynamos in the cores of the terrestrial planets include principally gravitational energy, heat of fusion, and long-lived radioactivity. The gravitational energy of core infall is quantifiable and substantial for all bodies but the Moon, but was likely spent too early in the history of most planets to prove a significant residual heat source to drive a present dynamo. The energy from inner core freezing in the Earth and in Mercury is at best marginally able to match even the conductive heat loss along an outer core adiabat. Radioactive decay in the core offers an attractive but unproven energy source to maintain core convection. 相似文献
20.
The composition, structure and evolution of the moon's interior are narrowly constrained by a large assortment of physical and chemical data. Models of the thermal evolution of the moon that fit the chronology of igneous activity on the lunar surface, the stress history of the lunar lithosphere implied by the presence of mascons, and the surface concentrations of radioactive elements, involve extensive differentiation early in lunar history. This differentiation may be the result of rapid accretion and large-scale melting or of primary chemical layering during accretion; differences in present-day temperatures for these two possibilities are significant only in the inner 1000 km of the moon and may not be resolvable. If the Apollo 15 heat-flow result is representative of the moon, the average uranium concentration in the moon is 0.05–0.08 p.p.m.Density models for the moon, including the effects of temperature and pressure, can be made to satisfy the mass and moment of inertia of the moon and the presence of a low-density crust inferred from seismic refraction studies only if the lunar mantle is chemically or mineralogically inhomogeneous. The upper mantle must exceed the density of the lower mantle at similar conditions by at least 5%. The average mantle density is that of a pyroxenite or olivine pyroxenite, though the density of the upper mantle may exceed 3.5 g/cm3. The density of the lower mantle is less than that of the combined crust and upper mantle at similar temperature and pressure, thus reinforcing arguments for early moon-wide differentiation of both major and minor elements. The suggested density inversion is gravitationally unstable and implies stresses in the mantle 2–5 times those associated with the lunar gravitational field, a difficulty that can be explained or avoided by: (1) adopting lower values for the moment of inertia and/or crustal thickness, or (2) postulating that the strength of the lower mantle increases with depth or with time, either of which is possible for certain combinations of composition and thermal evolution.A small iron-rich core in the moon cannot be excluded by the moon's mass and moment of inertia. If such a core were molten at the time lunar surface rocks acquired remanent magnetization, then thermal-history models with initially cold interiors strongly depleted in radioactive heat sources as a primary accretional feature must be excluded. Further, the presence of ～||pre|40 K in a FeFeS core could significantly alter the thermal evolution and estimated present-day temperatures of the deep lunar interior. 相似文献