Heat convection and phase separation of materials in planets
Abstract
Cooling of molten planets and the dynamics of the molten layer in a two-component mixture are examined using a simplified model of convective heat exchange. Basic thermodynamic relationships are derived for multicomponent mixtures. It is shown that convection in a liquid medium has a decisive role in heat removal, that a solid outer shell will be formed as a result of this, and that the temperature gradient in the liquid phase will diminish rapidly. Analysis of molten-layer dynamics indicates that the layer itself will play the part of a component separator, although its existence over a long period of time is unlikely in the absence of intense heat sources.
- Publication:
-
Astronomicheskii Vestnik
- Pub Date:
- September 1975
- Bibcode:
- 1975AVest...9..152K
- Keywords:
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- Binary Systems (Materials);
- Convective Heat Transfer;
- Earth Planetary Structure;
- Phase Separation (Materials);
- Planetary Composition;
- Planetary Evolution;
- Earth Crust;
- Liquid Phases;
- Solid Phases;
- Surface Cooling;
- Terradynamics;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration