Excitation of travelling torsional normal modes in an Earth's core model

Abstract

The proximity between the 6 yr recurrence time of the torsional Alfvén waves that have been inferred in the Earth's outer core over 1940-2010 and their 4 yr traveltime across the fluid core is nicely explained if these travelling waves are to be considered as normal modes.We discuss to what extent the emergence of free torsional modes from a stochastic forcing in the fluid core is compatible with some dissipation, specifically with an electromagnetic torque strong enough to account for the observed length of day variations of 6 yr period. In a spherical cavity enclosed by an insulating mantle, torsional normal modes consist of standing waves. In the presence of a conducting mantle, they transform into outward travelling waves very similar to the torsional waves that have been detected in the Earth's outer core. With such a resonant response a periodic forcing is not required to explain the regular recurrence of torsional waves; neither is the search for a source of motions in the vicinity of the cylindrical surface tangent to the inner core, where travelling waves seem to emerge. We discuss these results in the light of the reflection properties of torsional waves at the equator. We are able to reproduce the properties found for geophysical time-series of geostrophic flows (detection of a normal mode, almost total absorption at the equator) if the conductance of the lowermost mantle is 3 × 107 to 108 S.