Thermochemical models of outer core convection with heterogeneous core-mantle boundary heat flux (2507.03538v1)

Abstract: Thermochemical convection in Earth's outer core is driven by the crystallisation of the inner core that releases latent heat and light elements. A key question in core dynamics is whether a stable layer exists just below the core-mantle boundary. Recent core convection simulations, accounting for CMB heterogeneities, propose locally stable regions (or regional inversion lenses, RILs) rather than a global layer, allowing both stable and unstable regions to coexist. In this study, we consider a suite of numerical simulations of thermal, chemical, and thermochemical convection models focussed on Ekman number ($E=10^{-5}$) with thermal and chemical flux Rayleigh numbers $\widetilde{Ra}T=30-4000$ and $\widetilde{Ra}_C=30-100000$, and thermal and chemical Prandtl numbers $Pr_T=1$ and $Pr\xi=10$. Analysis of purely chemical models reveals light element accumulation (LEA) below the CMB, resulting in either locally stable regions near the poles or global layers, depending on the strength of chemical forcing. These chemically stratified regions persist in our thermochemical models even if the thermal field is fully destabilising. The addition of a heterogeneous CMB heat flux leads to the formation of RILs driven by thermal stratification. Stable regions in these thermochemical models have varying locations, properties, and morphologies depending on whether thermal or chemical convection dominates. In the investigated parameter range, these RILs are O(100 km) thick, and their strength and thickness generally increase with the strength of thermal driving; they are comparatively less sensitive to the strength of chemical driving. Our simulations reveal a diverse range of possible stable regions and/or a global layer at the top of Earth's core, with a seismically plausible range of thickness and strength, which may also have a signature in geomagnetic observations.