event
Monday 27 Mar 2017: Planetary core flows driven by libration
Dr Stijn Vantieghem - Coventry University
H103 14:30-16:30
As a consequence of gravitational coupling with their orbital partners, the rotation of planets and moons is not constant in time but undergoes periodic variations. One type of variations are the so-called librations, which are oscillations of the figure axes of an object with respect to a fixed, mean rotation axis.
In this seminar, I will analyse the response of liquid planetary cores to libration, thereby using mathematical models that take into account the effect of viscosity and tidal deformation. I will also present a hydrodynamic instability mechanism that can generate vigorous space-filling turbulence in tidally deformed librating bodies. Finally, I will also discuss the results in planetary context.
