Influence of composition-dependent thermal conductivity on the long-term evolution of primordial reservoirs in Earth's lower mantle

Abstract

Abstract The influence of composition-dependent thermal conductivity and heterogeneous internal heating of primordial dense material on the long-term evolution of primordial reservoirs in the lower mantle of the Earth is investigated utilizing thermochemical mantle convection simulations in a 2-D spherical annulus geometry. Our results show that a reduction in the thermal conductivity of primordial dense material due to iron enrichment does not substantially alter mantle dynamics nor the long-term stability of the reservoirs of this dense material. If the primordial dense material is also enriched in heat-producing elements, the average altitude of these reservoirs slightly increases as the thermal conductivity is reduced, therefore, covering smaller core–mantle boundary areas. Our study indicates that the composition-dependent thermal conductivity of primordial material plays a second order role in the long-term evolution of Earth's mantle. Graphical Abstract

Keywords

• Mantle dynamics
• Thermal conductivity
• Lower mantle
• Primordial reservoirs
• Thermo-chemical mantle convection