======================================================================== Intensive Lecture Course Nov 28 (Tue) - Nov 30 (Thr) "FLUID DYNAMICS OF EARTH AND PLANETARY INTERIORS" Ulrich Christensen Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany Email: christensen@mps.mpg.de This series of lectures will give an overview on various fluid dynamical processes operating in the interior of the Earth and of other planets. After a qualitative overview on our knowledge of the internal structure and dynamics of planets, the basic concepts for the underlying fluid-dynamical and magnetohydrodynamical processes will be introduced in a quantitative way. More complex processes are illustrated using the results of numerical simulations. Slow convection in the very viscous silicate mantle is the cause for most endogenic geological processes. Mantle plumes are a particular form of convection leading to surface volcanism. The complex rheology of rocks plays an essential role for mantle convection. Rotational forces are important for convection in gas planets and in the fluid metal cores of solid planets. They lead to the formation of the zonal jet flow that dominates the surface motions at Jupiter and Saturn. Electromagnetic forces balance the Coriolis force in convection-driven planetary dynamos. Their understanding has advanced very strongly in the past 10 years and today's models can match many properties of the geomagnetic field. Lecture 1 JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH A qualitative overview on the internal structure of the Earth's mantle and core, the available sources for information, and on important dynamical processes operating in the Earth's interior will be given. Lecture 2 INTERIOR OF OTHER PLANETS Our knowledge on the interior of other planets will be reviewed. Earth-like planets, icy moons and gas planets of the outer solar system are considered and the indicators for internal processes are discussed. Lecture 3 FUNDAMENTALS OF THERMAL CONVECTION: LINEAR STABILITY The Boussinesq equations for Rayleigh Benard convection will be introduced and the critical conditions for the onset of convection are derived. Lecture 4 FUNDAMENTALS OF THERMAL CONVECTION: FINITE AMPLITUDE Scaling laws for characteristic velocity, heat transport and boundary layer thicknesses in isoviscous convection at high Prandtl number are derived and applied to creeping convection in the Earth's mantle. Lecture 5 CONVECTION IN THE EARTH'S MANTLE: COMPLEX RHEOLOGY The complications of strongly temperature-dependent and non-Newtonian rheology for mantle convection are discussed. They lead to the formation of surface plates and plume-like rising flow. The influence of phase transitions on mantle convection will be described. Lecture 6 CONVECTION IN ROTATING FLUIDS: FUNDAMENTALS The fundamentals of convection in a rotating system, with strong Coriolis forces affecting the flow, will be introduced. Their effect on the onset of convection is studied. Lecture 7 CONVECTION IN ROTATING SPHERICAL SHELLS Convection in deep rotating spherical shells is relevant in the Earth's fluid core and in the gas enveloppes of the planets in the outer solar system. Their specific form and the excitation of axisymmetric zonal jet flow will be discussed. Lecture 8 FUNDAMENTALS OF MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS (MHD) The fundamental equations for the flow of an electrically conducting fluid in a magnetic field and some basic concepts for such flows will be described. They can be applied to infer the pattern of flow in the Earth's core from geomagnetic data. Lecture 9 MAGNETOCONVECTION AND MHD FLOW IN SPHERICAL SHELLS Convection in the presence of a magnetic field in a rotating system will be treated, where the electromagnetic forces can counteract the strong constraints of the Coriolis forces on the flow. Special conditions apply for the motion of axial cylinders in a rotating spherical shell. Lecture 10 SELF-SUSTAINED DYNAMOS The problem of self-sustained magnetic field generation in a convecting and rotating spherical shell is treated. The basic ideas for the mechanism of field generation are introduced and illustrated with the help of numerical dynamo simulations.