Open AccessThe Static Deformation of an Earth with a Fluid Core: A Physical Approach
Author(s) -
Chinnery Michael A.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb05872.x
Subject(s) - deformation (meteorology) , mantle (geology) , outer core , eulerian path , core (optical fiber) , geology , mechanics , classical mechanics , confusion , boundary value problem , earth model , physics , inner core , lagrangian , theoretical physics , geophysics , oceanography , psychology , quantum mechanics , psychoanalysis , optics
There has been a considerable amount of confusion in the literature concerning the formulation of the problem of the static deformation of an Earth model with a fluid core. Dahlen has recently discussed this problem using an Eulerian description of motion in the core. This paper outlines a physical approach to the problem, using Lagrangian variables throughout, where deformation in the mantle is described in terms of particle displacements and deformation in the core is described in terms of bulk fluid properties (density, pressure and gravitational potential). This approach clarifies Longman's paradox and the nature of the boundary conditions at the core‐mantle boundary.