Topographically Enhanced, Hydrothermal Convection through Oceanic Sediments and Crust

该项目将开发一系列数值模拟，以确定基底地形和不均匀的沉积层对各种情况下离轴、洋面和地壳中的热液循环的影响。研究人员将在曲线坐标下处理一般问题，并使用积分有限差分方法来解决热流耦合问题。它们将确定测深幅度和波长、地壳渗透性结构、沉积物厚度和均匀性、背景热流以及不连续、不渗透沉淀层的存在在决定远离脊轴的流体通量的深度、几何形状和强度方面的相对重要性。

This project will develop a series of numerical simulations to determine the influence of basement topography and an uneven sedimemt layer on off-axis, hydrothermal circulation through oceanic seciments and crust in a variety of settings. The investigators will cast the general problem in curvilinear coordinates and use the intergrated finite difference approach to problems of coupled heat and fluid flow. They will establish the relative importance of bathymetric amplitude and wavelength, crustal permeability structure, sediment thickness and uniformity, background heat flow, and the presence of discontinuous, impermeable sediment layers in determining the depth, geometry, and intensity of fluid fluxes away from the ridge axis.