Dynamics of a free boundary atop thermal convection

Abstract eng:
The theory of continental drift by Elder [1] suggests that continents exert a thermally insulating effect on the mantle convection underneath thus modify its large-scale flows, and in turn the continents are driven by the convective flows into cyclic motion [2]. We study through laboratory experiments the dynamics of a free boundary floating on top of turbulent flows that undergo thermal convection. Depending on its relative size, the free boundary either oscillates periodically or becomes locally trapped over an upwelling flow. These phenomena can be understood preliminarily by a low-dimensional model that elucidates how the large-scale flows response to, and in turn, dictate the free boundary motion.

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