Physics of Convection in a Porous Slab: Lateral Heat Extraction from Under a Thermal Blanket and the Formation ofHot Plumes

这是一项对海洋地壳热液对流进行实验室研究的建议。提出了两个单独的实验。实验(1)是在美国国家科学基金会支持下进行的实验的后续，在实验中，将一个装满玻璃珠的大水箱保持在不同的温度下，并允许对流模式的发展。在所提出的实验(1)中，实验装置基本上是相同的，只是修改了上界，使其部分允许更大比例的热对流热逸出。这个实验装置是为了模拟高渗透性的岩石露头被一层厚厚的不透水沉积物包围对海底对流热传递模式的影响。在实验(2)中，开发了一种新的装置，可以实现裂缝/多孔介质中高瑞利数对流的可视化。这些类型的研究对于理解海底的热传递是很重要的。程序认为实验(2)的优先级高于实验(1)，并已与PI进行了沟通。

This is a proposal to perform a laboratory study of hydrothermal convection in the oceanic crust. Two separate experiments are proposed. Experiment (1) is a follow up on an experiment undertaken with NSF support in which a large tank, filled with glass beads to simulate a porous medium, was maintained at a differential temperature and a convection pattern was allowed to develop. In the proposed experiment (1) the experimental set up is essentially the same except that the upper boundary is modified so that part of it allows a greater fraction of the thermally convected heat to escape. This experimental set up is to simulate the effects of a highly permeable rock outcrop surrounded by a thick blanket of impermeable sediment on the pattern of convective heat transfer through the ocean floor. In experiment (2) a new apparatus is developed that will enable the visualization of high Rayleigh number convection in a fractured/porous medium. These types of studies are important to the understanding of heat transfer through the seafloor. The program considers experiment (2) to be of greater priority than (1) and that has been communicated to the PI.