Plume heat flow is much lower than CMB heat flow

Abstract

Plumes rising from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) are often assumed to transport most, or all, of the heat conducted across the CMB. Here this assumption is explored using numerical convection models in idealized geometries that lead to a single plume under steady-state or near steady state conditions. Plume heat transport is calculated for different internal heating rates using two methods and compared to the CMB heat flux. For these conditions, it is found that the heat flux transported by plumes in the upper mantle is only a fraction of the core heat flux and, thus, core heat flow estimates derived from observed hotspots could be multiplied by a factor of several. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.