The core-mantle mode of gravitational oscillation
We present the characteristics of a mode of axial oscillation between Earth's mantle, fluid core and solid inner core that has not been previously reported. The mode involves a quasi-rigid rotation of the fluid core outside the tangent cylinder (TC) exchanging its angular momentum with the mantle via a three step process. First, by a magnetic torque with the fluid inside the TC; second by a magnetic torque between the latter and the inner core; and finally by a gravitational torque between the inner core and mantle. Although the gravitational torque is purely between the mantle and inner core, the mode involves an oscillation of the whole of the core, and we refer to it as the core-mantle gravitational (CMG) mode. This form of gravitational oscillation occurs when the magnetic field within the core is sufficiently strong that the propagation time of Alfvén waves is shorter than the mode period, which is the case for Earth. We show how the period, quality factor $Q$ and structure of the CMG mode depends on the strength of the gravitational torque and viscous relaxation time $\tau_i$ of the inner core. For Earth, the CGM mode period should be in the range of 40 to 100 years, but viscous relaxation of the inner core likely implies a small $Q$, below 1 if $\tau_i<10$ years. Our results suggest that the CMG mode may act to amplify resonantly, though only modestly, multi-decadal changes in the length of day driven by zonal accelerations in the fluid core.
Dumberry, Mathieu
September 04, 2026
Ler o artigo
Using paleomagnetic observations and geodynamo simulations to assess Earth's magnetic field morphology and variability
Multiple strategies have been suggested for quantitatively comparing numerical dynamo simulations to geomagnetic field models and paleomagnetic observations. Observationally-constrained metrics are designed to infer properties of simulations that are required to produce Earth-like behaviour and enable inferences on otherwise inaccessible properties of the geomagnetic field, such as its long-term spatio-temporal behaviour at the core-mantle boundary. However, these criteria are derived from data spanning differing timescales with fundamentally different spatio-temporal resolution, are often applied in isolation, and may not be independent assessments, so that holistic syntheses of simulated and observed field variations are currently lacking. In this work, we apply 14 existing criteria measuring field morphological and variability properties on centennial to million-year timescales to a database of 207 dynamos. Individual metrics are matched over various ranges of core-mantle boundary dipolarity (𝑓𝑑 ) and its temporal variability (𝛿 𝑓𝑑 ), though no single range conforms with all proposed metrics. The greatest overlap between simulations matching disparate criteria occurs for 𝑓𝑑 = 0.50−0.64, which is lower than the modern field value of 0.65−0.71 (1900-2025). Earth-like dynamos tend to have magnetic/kinetic energy ratio >1, consistent with a MAC force balance, and require a magnetic Reynolds number 𝑅𝑚 = 750−1200 to match the secular variation timescale. Simulations in our dataset exhibit reduced temporal variability at moderate dipolarity (𝑓𝑑 ∼ 0.5) compared to inferences from global field models, which hinders their capacity to produce Earth-like polarity reversals. This is a correction of the original manuscript where the 𝑓𝑑 value in 2025.0 was incorrectly stated. We thank Julien Aubert for his careful reading and suggestion which is now incorporated.
Rogers, Hannah
June 12, 2026
Ler o artigo