![]() RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES VOL. 3, NO. 2, PAGES 83–95, doi:10.2205/2001ES000057, 2001
A numerical evolutionary model of interacting continents floating on a spherical EarthV. P. Trubitsyn, and V. V. Rykov Schmidt United Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RussiaAbstract
[1] Development of methods for the numerical modelling of global geodynamic processes provided a possibility to study the driving
mechanism of moving continents periodically assembling to form supercontinents of the Pangea type. In our previous studies,
we developed a method for the numerical solution of a system of equations governing the mass, heat and momentum transfer in
a convecting viscous mantle and Euler equations describing the motion of solid continents. The convection and Euler
equations are coupled through the conditions of no-slip, impermeability and continuity of temperature and heat flux at the continent
surface submerged into the mantle. These studies demonstrated the capability of continents to assemble into a
supercontinent and the capability of a supercontinent to break up. Based on an idealized spherical model, this work
presents results of a numerical experiment with long evolution of 12 floating continents. The mantle was modelled by a
spherical shell of a constant viscosity heated from below with the Rayleigh number Ra = 10
7. The continents were
represented by thick rigid discs with angular dimensions of about 40o
Received 5 June 2001; published 15 June 2001. Keywords: mantle convection, floating continent, numerical simulation, evolution of the mantle-continent system. ![]() Citation: Trubitsyn, V. P., and V. V. Rykov (2001), A numerical evolutionary model of interacting continents floating on a spherical Earth, Russ. J. Earth Sci., 3, No.2, 83-95, doi:10.2205/2001ES000057. Version of this paper in Russian Copyright 2001 by the Russian Journal of Earth SciencesPowered by TeXWeb (Win32, v.2.0). |