Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Uncoupling Coriolis Force and Rotating Buoyancy Effects on Full-Field Heat Transfer Properties of a Rotating Channel
Published on: October 5, 2018
Viscous dissipation in three-dimensional convection with temperature-dependent viscosity
Abstract:
Numerical simulations of three-dimensional convection with temperature-dependent viscosity and viscous heating at realistic Rayleigh numbers for Earth's mantle reveal that, in the strongly time-dependent regime, very intense localized heating takes place along the top portion of descending cold sheets and also at locations where the ascending plume heads impinge at the surface. For a viscosity contrast of 100, these localized heat sources exceed the internal heating due to the radioactive decay of chondritic materials by more than an order of magnitude. The horizontally averaged viscous dissipation is concentrated in the top of the convecting layer and has a magnitude comparable with that of radioactive heating.
Related Concept Videos
Viscosity
Viscosity
The SI unit of viscosity is...
Viscosity of Fluid
Stokes' Law
The expression for the force on a solid spherical object in a fluid is called Stokes' law. Stokes' law is valid only for low Reynolds...
Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity
The various IMFs between identical molecules of a substance are examples of cohesive forces. The molecules within a liquid are surrounded by other molecules and are attracted equally in all directions by the cohesive forces within the liquid. However, the molecules on the surface of a liquid are attracted only by about one-half as many molecules. Because of the unbalanced molecular attractions on the surface molecules, liquids contract to form a shape that minimizes the number...
Newtonian Fluid: Problem Solving
A velocity gradient forms within the fluid when a Newtonian fluid is placed between two parallel plates, with...

