Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: The cause of the fast zonal winds on the large gas planets is disputed. To investigate their possible origin by convection in the planets' molecular hydrogen layer, I study simple numerical models of thermal convection in a rotating sphere at low Ekman numbers for Rayleigh numbers up to 100 times critical. With stress‐free boundaries and high Rayleigh number it is possible to reproduce the observed magnitudes of the zonal and non‐zonal flow components at the surfaces of Jupiter and Saturn. While only three flow bands are found for a thick convecting shell, the number increases to seven for a shell with an inner‐to‐outer radius of 0.6.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2000gl012643
Author: Ulrich R. Christensen
Institution: University of Göttingen
Language: English
Topic: Astro and Planetary Science
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W2004337164