On asymptotics of low-frequency oscillations of the liquid core: 2. Frequency dependence of the inertial core-mantle coupling

New, unique information on the inertial and dissipative coupling of the liquid core and the mantle has been retrieved from modern high-precision (radiointerferometer and GPS) data on tidal variations in the rotation velocity and nutation of the Earth. Comparison of theoretical and observed data provided new estimates for the dynamic flattening of the outer liquid and the inner solid cores, mantle quality factor, viscosity of the liquid core, and electromagnetic coupling of the liquid core and the mantle [Molodensky, 2004, 2006]. As was shown in the first part of the paper [Molodensky, 2008] (further referred to as [I]), generation of eddy flows in Proudman-Taylor columns, whose orientation is controlled by the topography of the liquid core-mantle boundary, should be taken into account for correct estimation of the inertial coupling (see formulas (8) and (34) in [I]). The range of periods within which this effect plays a significant role is determined by the decay time of these flows. This time is estimated in the paper for the case where dissipation is related to viscous friction at the core-mantle boundary or with the electromagnetic coupling of the liquid core and the mantle. Because of significant uncertainties in modern data on the viscosity of the liquid core, the magnetic field intensity at the core-mantle boundary, and the electrical conductivity of the lower mantle, the dissipative coupling of the liquid core and the mantle cannot be calculated as yet. However, as shown in the paper, the decay time of eddy flows is connected with the attenuation time of subdiurnal free nutation and with the liquid core viscosity. This enables the estimation of the frequency dependence of the dissipative coupling in a fairly wide range. It is shown that the range of periods for which relations (8) and (34) in [I] are valid encompasses the best-studied length-of-day variations and, therefore, these relations are applicable to analysis of the majority of modern data.     

核幔耦合对地球自由核章动的激发影响

地球自由核章动（FCN）是地幔与液核相互作用的重要动力学现象,其激发机制涉及地表流体层、地幔和地核等圈层之间的耦合,此前研究多利用地表流体层角动量数据单独研究其对FCN的激发,对核幔耦合的影响考虑不足.本文基于角动量守恒理论分析了核幔耦合对FCN周期及振幅的影响,并结合多个大气及海洋角动量函数时间序列首次估算了核幔耦合在FCN激发过程中的贡献.结果表明核幔耦合对FCN周期产生的固定和时变影响对FCN激发的作用均不可忽视,尤其时变影响可达几十个微角秒,对于进一步解释FCN时变特征非常重要;核幔耦合对FCN振幅的直接影响是地表流体层的激发与实测FCN不相符的主要原因,黏滞、电磁和地形等耗散耦合的存在对地表流体的激发振幅有67%左右的减弱效果.     

On the Mechanism of the Secular Tidal Acceleration of the Solid Inner Core and the Viscosity of the Liquid Core

As is known, the secular deceleration of the Earth's diurnal rotation is explained mainly by the tidal friction in the ocean. Below we consider this mechanism in some detail, taking into account also elastic deformations of the mantle under the action of ocean loading and the interaction between the tide-generating body, ocean tidal wave, liquid outer core, and solid inner core. It is shown that elastic displacements of the core-mantle boundary under the action of ocean loading are of about the same amplitude and phase as the elastic loading displacements of the Earth's outer surface. As a result, side by side with the mechanism of secular deceleration of diurnal rotation of the mantle, there are also (1) the opposite mechanism of secular acceleration of diurnal rotation of the outer liquid core and of the solid inner core and (2) the mechanism of excitation of differential rotation in the liquid core. Taking these effects into account, we compare theoretical and modern observed data on the eastward drift of the solid inner core. It is shown that the best agreement may be obtained if the turbulent viscosity of the liquid core is about 2 × 10 ³ Poise     

Influence Of The Atmosphere On Earth Rotation: What New Can Be Learned From The Recent Atmospheric Angular Momentum Estimates?

The interaction between the atmosphere and the underlying solid mantle is oneof the most important sources of changes in all three components of theEarth's rotation vector on different time scales. In this paper the NCEP/NCARreanalysis time series of four times daily atmospheric effective angularmomentum (EAM) estimates is used to investigate some selected aspects of theatmospheric influence on Earth rotation. Emphasis is placed on thecontroversial features which were difficult or impossible to study using theoperational EAM data, such as excitation of the free oscillations in polarmotion, the Chandler wobble (CW) and the free core nutation (FCN), or theroles of diurnal and semidiurnal atmospheric tides and atmospheric normalmodes in the rotational dynamics of the Earth.     

Models of density and mechanical <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis>-factor distributions according to new data on the nutations and free oscillations of the Earth: 2. Comparison with astrometric data

In the first part of the paper [Molodenskii, 2011], we considered the problem of ambiguity in the solution of the inverse problem of retrieval of density distribution in the Earth’s core and mantle and determination of the Q factors in the mantle from the entire set of modern data on seismic velocities (V _p and V _S ), the frequencies f _i and quality factors Q _i of free oscillations of the Earth, and the amplitudes and phases of its forced nutations. We have constructed the model distributions of these parameters, in which the root-meansquared (rms) deviations of all observed values from the predicted ones are much smaller than in the PREM model. Below, we compare the observed amplitudes of the forced nutation with the values predicted by our model. In order to understand how rigid are the constraints imposed by the amplitudes of forced nutation, we not only calculate the deviations of the observed amplitudes of nutation from the predictions by our model but also estimate the changes in these deviations caused by small variations in several parameters of the model. To the parameters to be varied we refer those which have no or barely any effect on the periods and damping constants of free oscillations but have a pronounced effect on the amplitudes of forced nutation. These parameters include (1) the rheological properties of the mantle in the interval of periods from an hour to a day; (2) the dynamical flattening of the liquid core; (3) the dynamic flattening of the solid inner core; (4) the viscosity of the liquid core; and (5) the moment of inertia of the solid inner core. In addition, we estimate the effects of variations in the moment of inertia of the liquid core to be small (±0.2%) and not to affect, within the observation error, the periods of free oscillations. We show that the uncertainty in the model depth distributions of density considerably decreases when the new data on the amplitudes and phases of the forced nutation of the Earth are taken into account. With these data, it is possible to estimate the creep function for the lower mantle in a wide range of periods from a second to a day.     

Core-mantle interactions

Several aspects of core-mantle interactions were considered during a Royal Astronomical Society Discussion Meeting on 12th May 1989, including modelling the geomagnetic field at the core surface, the morphology of the field between 1600 and 1820 AD, dynamo theory, Taylor's constraint, fluid motions at the top of the core that reproduce the observed secular variation, pressure coupling between the core and mantle and its geophysical consequences, topographic core-mantle coupling, angular momentum transfer at the core-mantle interface, the detection and implications of core oscillations, particularly those with associated fluctuations in the Earth's rotation rate, and the seismological determination of the core-mantle boundary topography from lateral inhomogeneities in the mantle.     

Temporal variations in free core nutation period

Based on the nearly diurnal resonance in the tidal gravity observations,the temporal variations in period of the Earth's free core nutation (FCN) are investigated by using the tidal gravity observations of 18-year duration recorded continu-ously with a superconducting gravimeter (SG) at Brussels. The effects of the global oceanic tide loading and local barometric pressure on the SG observations have been removed by using eleven high-precision global digital models of oceanic tides and barometric pressure me...     

On the Models of the Lower Mantle Viscosity Consistent with the Modern Data of Core-Mantle Boundary Flattening

In Forte and Claire Perry (2000) models of mantle viscosity (by using the data on tectonic plate velocities, of global free-air gravity anomalies, of surface topography corrected for crustal isostasy, and the excess of dynamic ellipticity of the core-mantle boundary in accordance with Herring et al., 1986 and Mathews et al., 1999) have been constructed. In the following investigation we reconsider the results which are obtained from the presently available data on core-mantle boundary flattening (abbreviated by CMBF). In contrast with the aforementioned work, we use below the value of CMBF (Molodensky and Groten, 1998) which is based on a new approach to the theory of diurnal Earth tides and nutation which takes into account the second-order terms of expansions of a small parameter (for a detailed discussion of this subject see (Molodensky and Groten, 1998)). Below we find the area of admissible values of mantle viscosity which does not contradict the following data sets: (a) the numerical value on CMBF; (b) the value of the whole Earth's dynamical flattening, and (c) the data on the secular deceleration of the Earth's rotation. Our estimations show, that the maximal viscosity at depth 2000 km may be of the order of 10²⁷ Poise. This value is consistent with the distribution obtained by Trubitsin (2000) who adopted the viscosity dependence on temperature and pressure by an exponential function with olivine parameters under the assumption that the activation energy varies only weakly with pressure, and the activation volume varies in inverse proportion to temperature. Under these assumptions, his solution of convection equations gave the depth dependence of temperature and thereby the viscosity distribution.     

利用超导重力仪观测资料检测地球近周日共振

简要介绍了地球近周日摆动（ＮＤＦＷ）及其在周日重力潮汐中共振的理论背景,利用武汉和Ｂｒｕｓｓｅｌｓ两台站超导重力仪的潮汐观测结果,采用造积方法（Ｓｔａｃｋｉｎｇｍｅｔｈｏｄ）检测ＮＤＦＷ,根据ＮＤＦＷ在４个周日潮波的共振,得到近周日摆动的本征频率和品质因子．考虑ＮＤＦＷ,可精化地球模型,更客观的理解和分析固体潮观测值和其它一些地球物理现象．     

Corrugations on the core boundary interfaces due to constitutional supercooling and effects on motion in a predominantly stratified liquid core

With the notion that interface and boundary layer phenomena play an important part in those geophysical processes which, by observation appear to be related to the earth's internal boundaries between the solid and liquid phases of its core and mantle, constitutional supercooling suggests itself as a mechanism capable of generating and maintaining inhomogeneities in concentration and density at the boundaries of the liquid core. The mechanism of constitutional supercooling requires a slow overgrowth of mantle and core, and, it implies that this growth process is associated with a selective partitioning of certain impurities shared in different concentrations by the liquid core and the solid phases of mantle and inner core. It can lead to the formation of regular (quasi-periodic) corrugations of the core-mantle and the inner-outer core boundaries with amplitudes of the order of 1 km. Mass redistributions, off-setting continually regenerated concentration and density inhomogeneities, provide a mechanism for core motion in the form of concentration currents. A regular distribution of corrugations or humps may give rise to (zonal) patterns of closed loops of concentration currents either in layers adjacent to the solid-liquid interfaces, or in loops extending through the entire outer core. The development of regular flow patterns should be enhanced if, referable to one particular constituent of the liquid phase, some parts of the solid-liquid interfaces acted as sources, others as sinks.     

On the theory of core-mantle coupling

This article commences by surveying the basic dynamics of Earth's core and their impact on various mechanisms of core-mantle coupling. The physics governing core convection and magnetic field production in the Earth is briefly reviewed. Convection is taken to be a small perturbation from a hydrostatic, “adiabatic reference state” of uniform composition and specific entropy, in which thermodynamic variables depend only on the gravitational potential. The four principal processes coupling the rotation of the mantle to the rotations of the inner and outer cores are analyzed: viscosity, topography, gravity and magnetic field. The gravitational potential of density anomalies in the mantle and inner core creates density differences in the fluid core that greatly exceed those associated with convection. The implications of the resulting “adiabatic torques” on topographic and gravitational coupling are considered. A new approach to the gravitational interaction between the inner core and the mantle, and the associated gravitational oscillations, is presented. Magnetic coupling through torsional waves is studied. A fresh analysis of torsional waves identifies new terms previously overlooked. The magnetic boundary layer on the core-mantle boundary is studied and shown to attenuate the waves significantly. It also hosts relatively high speed flows that influence the angular momentum budget. The magnetic coupling of the solid core to fluid in the tangent cylinder is investigated. Four technical appendices derive, and present solutions of, the torsional wave equation, analyze the associated magnetic boundary layers at the top and bottom of the fluid core, and consider gravitational and magnetic coupling from a more general standpoint. A fifth presents a simple model of the adiabatic reference state.     

Earth tides and polar motion

We establish a general theory that describes the rotational motion of a layered, oblate, elastic Earth under the influence of tidal forces when account is taken of the liquid outer core. We obtain a linearized version of the Navier-Stokes equation; within it not only have we retained the Coriolis and centrifugal acceleration terms, but also have included the nutational terms. We also make use of the Euler equation for angular momentum to analytically relate the nutational motion of the rotational axis with the oscillations of the liquid core and obtain a constraint for the nutational amplitude. Consideration of the Poisson equation for density variation completes our analytical model.We primarily discuss the equations of motion for the liquid core and present the solution as the sum of two terms: one being a component of the spheroidal displacement field, the other of the toroidal field. We also formulate the equations valid for the solid mantle when rotational effects are included, and establish the boundary conditions that must hold at the various interfaces in order that a complete integration of the differential system of equations be accomplished.We assume that the outer core consists of an inviscid fluid and ignore the existence of any boundary layer. We do not impose, however, any restriction on the stratification of the fluid. The dynamical coupling between liquid core and solid mantle is represented by a torque which is generated by the forced oscillations within the liquid core; these oscillations are in turn triggered by the diurnal tides.The expected influence of the liquid core/solid mantle boundary on the nutational motion is discussed in view of Poincare's results concerning a liquid core surrounded by a rigid shell. Comparison is finally made of our model with Molodenskii's 1961 theory for a neutral core and the 1976 Shen-Mansinha nutational theory for an unrestricted core.     

超导重力技术在探讨核幔边界黏性特征中的初步应用

旋转椭球型地球的固体地幔与液态地核间相互作用而产生的逆向本征模通常称之为地球自由核章动,自由核章动的品质因子（Q值）能有效反映核幔边界层能量耗散特征,与核幔边界的黏滞度密切相关.本文首次利用全球地球动力学计划网络23个台站27组高密度采样的高精度超导重力仪器观测数据,采用迭积技术,确定了自由核章动参数Q值,进而计算了核幔边界的黏滞系数.数值结果说明获得的核幔边界动力学黏滞系数达到10³ Pa·s量级,与加拿大科学家Smylie等利用VLBI观测资料获得的最新结果一致,这说明重力技术是有效应用于研究地球深内部结构的重要手段之一.     

Axial and equatorial rotations of the Earth's cores associated with the Quaternary ice age

The differential axial and equatorial rotations of both cores associated with the Quaternary glacial cycles were evaluated based on a realistic earth model in density and elastic structures. The rheological model is composed of compressible Maxwell viscoelastic mantle, inviscid outer core and incompressible Maxwell viscoelastic inner core. The present study is, however, preliminary because I assume a rigid rotation for the fluid outer core. In models with no frictional torques at the boundaries of the outer core, the maximum magnitude of the predicted axial rotations of the outer and inner cores amounts to ∼2° year⁻¹ and ∼1° year⁻¹, respectively, but that for the secular equatorial rotations of both cores is ∼0.0001° at most. However, oscillating parts with a period of ∼225 years are predicted in the equatorial rotations for both cores. Then, I evaluated the differential rotations by adopting a time-dependent electromagnetic (EM) torque as a possible coupling mechanism at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) and inner core boundary (ICB). In a realistic radial magnetic field at the CMB estimated from surface magnetic field, the axial and equatorial rotations couple through frictional torques at the CMB, although these rotations decouple for dipole magnetic field model. The differential rotations were evaluated for conductivity models with a conductance of 10⁸ S of the lowermost mantle inferred from studies of nutation and precession of the Earth and decadal variations of length of day (LOD). The secular parts of equatorial rotations are less sensitive to these parameters, but the magnitude for the axial rotations is much smaller than for frictionless model. These models, however, produce oscillating parts in the equatorial rotations of both cores and also in the axial rotations of the whole Earth and outer and inner cores. These oscillations are sensitive to both the magnitude of radial magnetic field at the CMB and the conductivity structure. No sharp isolated spectral peaks are predicted for models with a thin conductive layer (∼200 m) at the bottom of the mantle. In models with a conductive layer of ∼100 km thickness, however, sharp spectral peaks are predicted at periods of ∼225 and ∼25 years for equatorial and axial rotations, respectively, although these depend on the strength of radial magnetic field at the CMB. While the present study is preliminary in modelling the fluid outer core and coupling mechanism at the CMB, the predicted axial rotations of the whole Earth may be important in explaining the observed LOD through interaction between the equatorial and axial rotations.     

Comparison between inelastic earth models constructed from astrometric and tidal gravity data

As was shown in [Molodensky, 2004a, 2004b], modern very long base interferometer (VLBI) data on the amplitudes and phases of the Earth’s forced nutation can provide significantly more rigid constraints on possible values of the quality factor of the lower mantle Q _μ and on the dynamic flattening of the liquid core e _lc as compared with seismic evidence and data on damping of the free oscillations of the Earth. On the other hand, the accuracy of modern tidal gravity data (obtained from twenty-year series of observations with a cryogenic gravimeter) is also very high and these data must be taken into account while estimating the parameters Q _μ and e _lc . The paper presents comparative estimates of the determination accuracy of the parameters Q _μ and the dynamic flattening of the liquid core from VLBI and the aforementioned tidal gravity data.     

Research on the scatter features of the PKiKP/PcP amplitude ratio and the inner core boundary density contrasts beneath Northeast Asia

Quantifying the density contrasts of the Earth's inner core boundary(ICB) is crucial to understand core-mantle coupling and the generation of the geodynamo. The PKiKP/PcP amplitude ratio is commonly used to obtain the density contrast at the ICB, but its applications are limited by scattered observed data. In this study, we selected the PKiKP and PcP phases reflected at the same region of inner-core and core-mantle boundaries beneath Northeast Asia from different earthquakes for the first time, and the observations suggested that the PKiKP/PcP amplitude ratio is widely scattered. We also compared the PKiKP and PcP amplitudes, which demonstrated that the scatter cannot be attributed only to ICB anomalies but might also arise from raypath differences and heterogeneities throughout the crust and mantle. By fitting the observed PKiKP/PcP amplitude ratio, we obtained a density contrast of approximately 0.65 g cm~(-3) and a compressional velocity contrast of approximately 0.87 km s~(-1) at the ICB beneath Northeast Asia. The larger contrast values indicate the possible occurrence of local crystallization occurring at the inner core surface.     

内核地球自转动力学理论的研究进展(Ⅴ)——地球自转耦合运动方程组

本文是序列文章的第五篇,其内容包括：基于连续介质力学的基本理论,在考虑到地球的自引力、液核对核幔边界的压力和外部引潮力的作用下,严格地给出了地幔的角动量方程.利用前文的有关结论,进而给出了整体地球自转的动力学方程和内核地球模型的地球自转耦合运动学方程组.本文顾及了高阶岁差章动力矩对地球自转的影响,因而在理论上扩展了文献〔1〕给出的理论模型.本文的理论对进一步研究在高阶岁差章动力矩作用下的内核地球章动是非常有意义的.     

Meteor wind radar observations of tidal amplitudes over a low-latitude station Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E): Interannual variability and the effect of background wind on diurnal tidal amplitudes

Based on the horizontal winds measured using SKiYMET meteor wind radar during the period of June 2004–May 2007, the seasonal and interannual variability of the diurnal and semidiurnal amplitudes and phases in the mesospheric and lower thermospheric (MLT) region over a low-latitude station Trivandrum (8.5°N) are investigated. The monthly values of amplitudes and phases are calculated using a composite day analysis. The zonal and meridional diurnal tidal amplitudes exhibit both annual and semiannual oscillations. The zonal and meridional components of semidiurnal tide show a significant annual oscillation. The phase values of both diurnal and semidiurnal tides exhibit annual oscillation above 90 km. The effect of background wind in the lower atmosphere on the strength of diurnal tidal amplitudes in the MLT region is studied. The effect of diurnal tides on the background wind in the lower thermosphere is also discussed.     

Variability of the topographic core-mantle torque calculated from core surface flow models

With the prospect of studying the relevance of the topographic core-mantle coupling to the variations of the Earth’s rotation and also its applicability to constraining the core surface flow, we investigate the variability of the topographic torque estimated by using core surface flow models accompanied by (a) uncertainty due to the non-uniqueness problem in the flow inversion, and (b) variance originating in that of geomagnetic secular variation models employed in the inversion. Various flow models and their variances are estimated by inverting prescribed geomagnetic models at the epoch 1980. The subsequent topographic torque is then calculated by using a core-mantle boundary topography model obtained by seismic tomography. The calculated axial and equatorial torques are found subject to the variability of order 10¹⁹ and 10²⁰  Nm, respectively, on which (b) is more effective than (a). The variability of the torque is attributed even to (a) and (b) of the large-scale flows (degrees 2 and 3). Yet, it still seems unlikely for the decadal polar motion with the observed amplitude to be excited exclusively by the equatorial topographic torque associated with any of reasonable core surface flow models. It is also confirmed that, with the topography model adopted here, the axial topographic torque on a rigid annulus in the core (coaxial with the Earth’s rotation axis) associated with any of reasonable flow models is larger by two orders of magnitude than the plausible inertial torque on such cylinders. This implies that any core surface flow model consistent with the topographic coupling does not exist, unless the topography model is appropriately modified. Nevertheless, the topographic coupling might provide not only a weak constraint for explaining the decadal LOD variations, but also the possibility to probe the core surface flow and the core dynamics.     

Global P-wave tomography: On the effect of various mantle and core phases

In this work, many global tomographic inversions and resolution tests are carried out to investigate the influence of various mantle and core phase data from the International Seismological Center (ISC) data set on the determination of 3D velocity structure of the Earth's interior. Our results show that, when only the direct P data are used, the resolution is good for most of the mantle except for the oceanic regions down to about 1000 km depth and for most of the D″ layer, and PP rays can provide a better constraint on the structure down to the middle mantle, in particular for the upper mantle under the oceans. PcP can enhance the ray sampling of the middle and lower mantle around the Pacific rim and Europe, while Pdiff can help improve the spatial resolution in the lowermost mantle. The outer core phases (PKP, PKiKP and PKKP) can improve the resolution in the lowermost mantle of the southern hemisphere and under oceanic regions. When finer blocks or grid nodes are adopted to determine a high-resolution model, pP data are very useful for improving the upper mantle structure. The resulting model inferred from all phases not only displays the general features contained in the previous global tomographic models, but also reveals some new features. For example, the image of the Hawaiian mantle plume is improved notably over the previous studies. It is imaged as a continuous low velocity anomaly beneath the Hawaiian hotspot from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) to the surface, implying that the Hawaiian mantle plume indeed originates from the CMB. Low-velocity anomalies along some mid-oceanic ridges extend down to about 600 km depth. Our results suggested that later seismic phases are of great importance in better understanding the structure and dynamics of the Earth's interior.