Boundary layer models of ocean floor spreading

Abstract

The equations of conservations of momentum and energy scaled with the characteristic values of the mantle indicate the presence of the upper boundary layer to produce the estimated rate of the ocean floor spreading by convection and the importance of the frictional heating. The depth of the upper boundary layer can be estimated from the balance of the viscous force with the horizontal pressure gradient at the sea floor. It is of the orders of 100 km and becomes deeper for the Pacific than for the Atlantic Ocean and also with frictional heating than without it. The frictional heating increases the surface heat flow of the heat conduction by ten to twenty percent for the Pacific Ocean but only by a few percent for the Atlantic Ocean. The similarity solutions are determined for the temperature and horizontal velocity in the upper boundary layer. These solutions are expressed in power series of the variabley x−n, wherex, y, andn are horizontal and vertical coordinates and numerical constant, respectively. Both temperature and horizontal velocity within the boundary layer are higher for the Pacific than for the Atlantic Ocean. When a larger viscosity is applied, it causes the increase of horizontal velocity below the surface because of the surface boundary conditions of the finite velocity and of vanishment of the velocity shear. The higher horizontal velocity generates higher temperature because it advects hotter material from the mid-ocean ridge site. The direct effect of frictional heating on the temperature distribution of the similarity solution is almost negligible, since the shear zone is deep and near the lower boundary of the upper boundary layer. In the similarity solution, the surface heat flow which is increased by the frictional heating is given as the boundary value. The effect of the frictional heating is important below the mid-ocean ridge.