On asymptotics of low-frequency oscillations of the liquid core: 1. Basic relations

Asymptotic analysis of low-frequency oscillations of a rotating liquid bounded by a solid surface is performed under the condition that the oscillation frequency is much smaller than the angular rate of rotation. Simple analytical relations describing comprehensively asymptotic modes of these oscillations are obtained.     

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.     

On the effect of oceanic tides on the inertial coupling between the liquid core and the mantle

The amplitudes and phases of forced nutation and diurnal earth tides depend significantly on the moment of forces between the liquid core and mantle of the Earth, resulting from the differential rotation of the core. The solution to the dynamic problem of rotation of an imperfectly elastic mantle with an imperfectly liquid core and an ocean indicates that the predominant role is played by the so-called core-mantle inertial coupling (related to the effect of hydrodynamic pressure in the liquid core on the ellipsoidal core-mantle boundary). The magnitude of this coupling depends significantly not only on the dynamic flattening of the liquid core but also on the elastic and inelastic properties of the mantle, as well as on the amplitudes and phases of oceanic tides. In this paper, the effects of oceanic tides on the magnitude of inertial coupling between the liquid core and the mantle and on the period and damping decrement of free nearly diurnal nutation are estimated.     

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 topographic coupling at the core-mantle interface

The mean tangential stresses at a corrugated interface between a solid, electrically insulating mantle and a liquid core of magnetic diffusivity λ are calculated for uniform rotation of both mantle and core at an angular velocity Ω in the presence of a corotating magnetic field B. The core and mantle are assumed to extend indefinitely in the horizontal plane. The interface has the form z = η(x, y), where z is the upward vertical distance and x, y are the zonal and latitudinal distances respectively. The function η(x, y) has a planetary horizontal length scale (i.e. of the order of the radius of the Earth) and small amplitude and vertical gradient. The liquid core flows with uniform mean zonal velocity U₀ relative to the mantle. Ω and B possess vertical and horizontal components.The vertical (poloidal) component B_p is uniform and has a value of 5 G while the horizontal (toroidal) field B_T = B_pαz, where α is a constant. When |α| ? 1, the mean horizontal stresses are found to have the same order of magnitude (10^?2 N m^?2) as those inferred from variations in the decade fluctuations in the length of the day, although the exact numerical values depend on the orientation of Ω as well as on the wavenumbers in the zonal and latitudinal directions.The influence of the steepness (as measured by α) of the toroidal field on the stresses is investigated to examine whether the constraint that the mean horizontal stresses at the core-mantle interface be of the order of 10^?2 N m^?2 might provide a selection mechanism for the behaviour of the toroidal field in the upper reaches of the outer core of the Earth. The results indicate that the restriction imposed on α is related to the value assigned to the toroidal field deep into the core. For example, if |α| ? 1 then the tangential stresses are of the right order of magnitude only if the toroidal field is comparable with the poloidal field deep in the core.     

Detection of inertial gravity oscillations in the Earth's core with a superconducting gravimeter at Brussels

As stated by Crossley and Rochester the discovery and identification of even a few undertone periods would provide valuable gross constraints on the stability profile and hence, the thermal regime of the core. Three years of continuous measurements of gravity variations with a superconducting gravimeter at Brussels offer a possibility to detect such oscillations in that part of the spectrum where tidal contributions can be eliminated. Spectral peaks of 10–15 ngal amplitude have been detected around a period of 13.9 h which were enhanced immediately after the two deep earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 which occurred during the observation interval.     

Z-model of the nearly symmetric hydromagnetic dynamo with electromagnetic core-mantle coupling

Summary The present paper deals with theZ-model of the nearly symmetric hydromagnetic dynamo as a generation mechanism of the Earth's magnetic field. TheZ-model of Braginsky [2] was solved for viscous core-mantle coupling [3]. It is shown that a similarZ-model can also be constructed for electromagnetic core-mantle coupling, or for both effects combined. A new part of the azimuthal velocity appears in the equations, but the character of the boundary layer is not changed too much. No numerical solution is presented.

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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.     

On the effects of a bumpy core-mantle interface

Motivated by the high degree of correlation between the variable parts of the magnetic and gravitational potentials of the Earth discovered by Hide and Malin (using a harmonic analysis approach and utilizing the geomagnetic data) when one field is suitably displaced relative to the other, Moffatt and Dillon (1976) studied a simple planar model in an attempt to find a quantitative explanation for the suggestion that this high degree of correlation may be due to the influences produced by bumps on the core-mantle interface. Moffatt and Dillon assumed that the core-mantle interface was z = η(x) where |?η/?χ| ? 1 and such that in the core [z < η(x)] a uniform flow (U₀, 0, 0) prevails in the presence of a uniform ‘toroidal’ field (B₀, 0, 0); (here z is the vertical coordinate and x is the eastward distance). The whole system rotates uniformly about the vertical with angular velocity Ω. The present work extends the model discussed by Moffatt and Dillon to include a horizontal component of angular velocity Ω_H and a uniform small poloidal field B_p. In addition, the uniform toroidal field is here replaced by one which vanishes everywhere in the mantle and increases linearly, from zero on the interface, with z. It is shown that the presence of Ω_H and B_p, together with the present choice of toroidal magnetic field, has a profound effect both on the correlation between the variable parts of the magnetic and gravitational fields of the Earth, and on how far the disturbances caused by the topography of the interface [which is necessarily three-dimensional i.e. z = η(x, y) here] can penetrate into the liquid core. In particular it is found that the highest value of the correlation function is +0.79 which corresponds to a situation in which the magnetic potential is displaced both latitudinally and longitudinally relative to the gravitational potential.     

Forced magnetohydrodynamic oscillations of the earth's core

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A note on short-term core-mantle coupling,geomagnetic secular variation impulses,and potential magnetic field invariants as Lagrangian tracers of core motions

This note summarizes recent studies of atmospheric excitation of short-term changes in the length of the day and polar motion which set useful limits on the timescales associated with angular momentum transfer between the Earth's core and mantle. It also speculates about the nature of the recently-discovered phenomenon of “impulses” or “jerks” in the geomagnetic secular variation, proposing that they might be manifestations of “loop” instability of the magnetic field within the core. Finally, it outlines novel properties of high magnetic Reynolds number flows that bear on the inverse problem of deducing core motions from geomagnetic secular variation data.     

On the formation of a stably stratified layer near the core-mantle boundary

Within the framework of a model of liquid immiscibility in the outer core, we calculate a stably stratified layer about 11 km thick near the core-mantle boundary and discuss its reflection and scattering properties for seismic waves.     

Effects of a rigid core on the reflection and transmission coefficients from a multi-layered core-mantle boundary

Summary The aim of this paper is to present the formulations which can be used in calculating reflection and transmission coefficients when the rigidity in the core is taken into consideration. The theoretical curves presented can be used as a guide for studies of the physical parameters of the core-mantle boundary. It is hoped that these curves may lead to a clarification of the great differences between observed data and theoretical calculations, when the geometrical spreading and attenuation are taken into account.The Thomson-Haskell matrix formulations are used to calculate the reflection and transmission coefficients for a multi-layered medium imbedded between two half-spaces representing the solid mantle and a rigid core. A rigid core is defined here as having a rigidity in the range 10¹⁰<<10¹¹ cgs units. For five proposed models of the core-mantle boundary the rigidity in the core is varied and the results are compared with those for a liquid core.     

On the admissible range for the mass and inertia moments of the liquid core: II. Results of numerical calculations

We analyze the present-day data on the periods of free oscillations and amplitudes of the forced nutations of the Earth for evaluating the admissible range of the mass and moment of inertia for the liquid core. The initial model for this study is taken in the form of the model distribution of density and mechanical Q parameters of the mantle suggested in (Molodenskii, 2010; 2011a; 2011b). This model was constructed by the steepest descent method in the space of 64 parameters, which determine the distribution of density and parameters of mechanical Q in the mantle, liquid outer core, and solid inner core of the Earth. We assumed the Q parameter of the mantle and inner solid core to be constant and sought for the density variations for the simplest two-parameter model of the piecewise-linear functions with the jumps on the boundary between the liquid core and the mantle and at the olivine-spinel phase transition at a depth of 670 km in the mantle. After this, the computations were repeated for the other distributions of Q (which were also assumed to be unchanged) that correspond to their limiting admissible values. Using this approach, we managed to find the most probable values of the mass and moment of inertia of the liquid core and determine the admissible range of their values. According to our estimates, the ratios of the mass and moments of inertia of the liquid core to the mass and moment of inertia of the whole Earth fall in the intervals 0.317996 ± 0.00065 and 0.110319 ± 0.00022, respectively. These values are lower than the corresponding values for the PREM model (0.322757 and 0.112297) by (1.48 ± 0.30)% and (1.76 ± 0.35)%, respectively. The interpretation of these results requires the revision and thorough analysis of the data on the admissible temperature range of the liquid core and (or) its chemical composition.     

On the coupling of fluid dynamics and electromagnetism at the top of the earth's core

Abstract

A kinematic approach to short-term geomagnetism has recently been based upon pre-Maxwell frozen-flux electromagnetism. A complete dynamic theory requires coupling fluid dynamics to electromagnetism.

A geophysically plausible simplifying assumption for the vertical vorticity balance, namely that the vertical Lorentz torque is negligible, is introduced and its consequences are developed. The simplified coupled magnetohydrodynamic system is shown to conserve a variety of magnetic and vorticity flux integrals. These provide costraints on eligible models for the geomagnetic main field, its secular variation, and the horizontal fluid motions at the top of the core, and so permit a number of tests of the underlying assumptions.     

On the admissible range for the mass and inertia moments of the liquid core: I. Solving the inverse problem of nutations and free oscillations of the Earth by decomposition of mechanical parameters in an orthogonalized basis

The results of solving the inverse problem of forced nutations and free oscillations of the Earth by decomposing the Q-factor and small depth variations in density in a system of orthogonal functions are considered. These functions are determined by orthogonalization of the functional derivatives of the observed parameters with respect to the depth distributions of the sought parameters (assuming there are no distributions of the velocities of body seismic waves V _p and V _S with depth and unchanged total mass M and inertia moments I of the Earth). The examples are presented to illustrate the numerical solution of the inverse problem on finding the density distributions in the mantle and core of the Earth using orthogonalization of the integral constraints for the probable depth distributions of density describing the conditions of unchanged M and I, as well as the constraints posed by the data on the periods of the free low-order oscillations of the Earth.     

The period of the free core nutation: towards a dynamical basis for an ‘extra-flattening’ of the core-mantle boundary

Indirect observations and theoretical predictions for the period of the free core nutation (FCN) differ by anywhere from 15 to 30 days, and various effects have been invoked in attempts to explain this difference. The favored explanation remains as much as 5% departure in the flattening of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) from that of its hydrostatic reference figure. This 5% ‘extra-flattening’ of the CMB is not seen at the Earth's surface, where the difference is only about 0.5%. In contrast to the a posteriori model adjustments used to determine this up to 5% value, and the kinematic results available from viscous flow modeling using the seismically determined lateral heterogeneity in density data, we consider this problem from the perspective of a forward-modeling dynamical study. More specifically, we investigate the related problem of flow-induced surface and CMB topography, arising from convection in the mantle. As such, we have completed a comparative and systematic study of relative surface and CMB topography resulting from numerical models of mantle convection. When effects resulting from boundary curvature are isolated, it appears that the magnitude of CMB topography produced is insufficient in producing a significant extra-flattening of the CMB. However, results concerning effects solely resulting from a depth-dependent mantle viscosity profile, indicate that this factor may indeed lead to enhanced topography at the CMB of the magnitude required to produce the extra-flattening there.     

Momentum transfer at the ocean–atmosphere interface: the wave basis for the inertial coupling approach

 The inertial coupling approach for the momentum transfer at the ocean–atmosphere interface, which is based on the assumption of a similarity hypothesis in which the ratio between the water and air reference velocities is equal to the square root of the ratio between the air and water densities, is reviewed using a wave model. In this model, the air and water reference velocities are identified, respectively, with the spectrally weighted phase velocity of the gravity waves and the Stokes velocity at the water roughness length, which are evaluated in terms of the dimensionless frequency limits in Toba's equilibrium spectrum. It is shown that the similarity hypothesis is approximately satisfied by the wave model over the range of wave ages encountered in typical sea states, and that the predicted values of the dimensionless surface drift velocity, the dimensionless water reference velocity, and the Charnock constant are in reasonable agreement with observational evidence. The application of the bulk relationship for the surface shear stress, derived from the inertial coupling hypothesis in general circulation modeling, is also discussed. Received: 6 January 2001 / Accepted: 28 June 2001     

On free oscillations of the earth

This survey concerns mostly the theory of free oscillations, with a section on experimental work included at the end. Developments over the last 15 years are examined. The general theory of free oscillations is reviewed, and the effect on free oscillations of such factors as heterogeneity, the Earth's rotation and non-sphericity, and the source of the oscillations are discussed. Earth models, which have been obtained from oscillation data, are reviewed, and their use in forming theoretical seismograms is described.See note at p. 426.Note