Onset of convection in a basally heated spherical shell, application to planets

Abstract

Onset times of convection in a basally heated spherical shell are investigated in order to obtain scaling relationships for the influences of Rayleigh number, viscosity parameter describing the dependency on the temperature and geometry of spherical shell. The obtained scalings are then applied to the dimensions and plausible initial state of terrestrial planets (Mars, the Earth and Venus

Keywords

• Onset
• convection
• basally
• heated
• spherical
• shell
• application
• planets