Modelling of geological fluid flows

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The research funded by this proposal will help us to better understand convection in Earth's mantle as well as other geological phenomena that are fluid mechanical in nature by means of numerical modelling.  Thermal convection in the Earth's mantle is the process that controls the rate at which Earth is cooling and it supplies the driving force for plate tectonic motions.  These are the cause of many important surface geological processes.  Convection in Earth's mantle has also lead to the differentiation of the Earth into distinct layers of mantle and crust through volcanism at the Earth's surface.  The mantle sits atop the core and hence controls the rate at which the core is cooling which affects the rate at which the inner core is growing through freezing as well as the generation of the Earth's magnetic field.   I am very interested in understanding the detailed thermal energy budget of the earth's interior and the history of the above mentioned processes.  Modelling of convection in Earth's mantle is necessary in order to investigate how factors such as mantle phase transitions and differing distributions of viscosity and geochemistry can affect the efficiency of heat transport in the mantle and Earth's long-term evolution.  I also propose to initiate a program of modelling the thermal evolution of Mars and the other terrestrial planets in order to help understand the similarities and differences between these planets and our own.I am also very interested in "mushy layers" in geological systems.  Mushy layers often occur when there is solidification or melting of a multi-component mixture.  They are believed to exist in solidifying magma chambers, in sea-ice and at the inner-core outer-core boundary.  Their dynamics are interesting because fractionation of the components occurs as solidification proceeds which can result in buoyancy forces that drive convection which in turn can affect the pattern of melting and solidification and the composition of the final system.  I propose to build and use numerical models of these geological systems in order to better understand their dynamics.