Experiments on Convection and Turbulence in Earth's Core

奥尔森0105238这个项目由一系列实验室流体动力学实验组成，旨在模拟在地球液态外核中产生地磁场的重要过程。其中一组实验将在旋转的半球形流体壳体中进行，旨在模拟地核自重、旋转、球形几何结构中的热对流。这里的目的是描述旋转球壳对流的特征，这些特征可以用来解释岩心的地震和地磁图像。第二个系列的实验室实验将在有无旋转和外加磁场的影响下，对凝固镓铟合金中的热化学对流进行研究。镓铟合金类似于外核的富铁合金，凝固代表着地球固体内核的生长。这些实验的目的是检验重力发电机模型的假设，并确定外核环境中的湍流运动特性。重力发电机模型被广泛认为是地球发电机最有可能的能源。

Olson 0105238 This project consists of a series laboratory fluid dynamical experiments designed to simulate processes that are important in the generation of the geomagnetic field in Earth's liquid outer core. One set of experiments will be conducted in rotating hemispherical shells of fluid, and are intended to model thermal convection in the self-gravitating, rotating, spherical geometry of the core. The purpose here is to delineate those characteristics of rotating spherical shell convection that can be used to interpret seismic and geomagnetic images of the core. A second series of laboratory experiments will be conducted on thermochemical convection in solidifying gallium-indium alloys, with and without the influences of rotation and externally applied magnetic fields. The gallium-indium alloy is analogous to the iron-rich alloy of the outer core, and the solidification represents the growth of Earth's solid inner core. These experiments are designed to test the assumptions of the gravitationally powered dynamo model, which is widely regarded as the most likely energy source for the geodynamo, and to determine the properties of turbulent fluid motion in the environment of the outer core.