Viscous entrainment by sinking plumes

Abstract

Geochemical models invoking several distinct reservoirs in the mantle, with different time histories, raise important questions about the exchange of mass between them. If two of these reservoirs are the upper and lower mantle, above and below about 700 km, then sinking of cold slabs through this level is one of a number of possible ways in which mixing can occur. In addition, if slabs do penetrate the transition zone, surrounding upper layer material will be dragged downwards. We have examined the interaction of very viscous plumes, or slabs, with density and viscosity interfaces in a series of laboratory experiments using fluids of different viscosities and densities and have documented several mechanisms which can lead to significant entrainment and mixing. If a slab remains planar as it passes through a density interface, a boundary layer of lighter fluid is pulled into the lower layer and we predict the consequent mass flux. When a near-vertical slab becomes unstable to folding (as it does if it has a sufficient viscosity contrast with its surroundings and its length is greater than about five times its thickness), there is another more efficient entrainment mechanism: upper layer fluid is trapped between the folds in the slab. The effective entrainment increases as the density difference between the upper and lower layers decreases. An increase in viscosity with depth also leads to buckling instability and folding of the surrounding material into the slab material. On the other hand, when there is substantial density difference between the layers a dense slab can cease to sink through the interface but spread out along the interface because it is unstable and incorporates enough upper layer fluid between its folds to become neutrally buoyant. The range of slab behaviour occurring in the mantle is not known but we draw attention to the various possibilities and to the implications for mass flux between layers.