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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials
Published on: January 26, 2014
Superplumes from the core-mantle boundary to the lithosphere: implications for heat flux
Barbara Romanowicz1, Yuancheng Gung
1Seismological Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 215 McCone Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. barbara@seismo.berkeley.edu
Abstract:
Three-dimensional modeling of upper-mantle anelastic structure reveals that thermal upwellings associated with the two superplumes, imaged by seismic elastic tomography at the base of the mantle, persist through the upper-mantle transition zone and are deflected horizontally beneath the lithosphere. This explains the unique transverse shear wave isotropy in the central Pacific. We infer that the two superplumes may play a major and stable role in supplying heat and horizontal flow to the low-viscosity asthenospheric channel, lubricating plate motions and feeding hot spots. We suggest that more heat may be carried through the core-mantle boundary than is accounted for by hot spot fluxes alone.
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Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
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Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant heat.
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