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

这是一项对洋壳中的热液对流进行实验室研究的建议。提出了两个不同的实验。实验(1)是在NSF支持下进行的一项实验的后续实验，在该实验中，一个装满玻璃微珠以模拟多孔介质的大水箱保持在不同的温度下，并允许发展对流模式。在拟议的实验(1)中，实验设置基本上是相同的，只是修改了上边界，使其中的一部分允许更大比例的热对流热量逸出。这一实验装置是为了模拟高渗透性岩石露头被厚厚的不透水沉积物毯子包围对海底对流换热模式的影响。在实验(2)中，开发了一种新的装置，可以显示裂隙/多孔介质中的高瑞利数对流。这些类型的研究对于理解通过海底的热传递很重要。程序认为实验(2)比(1)具有更高的优先权，并已传达给PI。

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.