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Core Evolution Driven By Mantle Global Circulation, Peter Olson, Renaud Deguen, Maxwell L. Rudolph, Shijie Zhong

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reconstructions of the Phanerozoic history of mantle global circulation that include past plate motions are used to constrain the thermochemical evolution of the core. According to our mantle global circulation models, the present-day global average heat flux at the core-mantle boundary lies in the range 80-90 mW.m^-2, with peak-to-peak, long wavelength lateral variations up to 100 mW.m^-2 associated with compositional and thermal heterogeneity in the D”-layer. For core thermal conductivity in the range k=100-130 W.m^-1.K^-1 we infer that the present-day outer core is thermally unstable beneath the high seismic velocity regions in the …