HR: 0830h
AN: SH21B-0128    [PDF]
TI: Penetration of Meridional Circulation into a Stably-Stratified Region
AU: * Miesch, M S
EM: miesch@ucar.edu
AF: HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 United States
AU: Gilman, P A
EM: gilman@ucar.edu
AF: HAO/NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 United States
AB: Several recent solar dynamo models have been proposed which require the axisymmetric component of the solar meridional circulation (MC) to penetrate substantially below the convective envelope, well into the stably-stratified interior. In this poster we investigate this possibility using a thin-shell approximation which has recently been developed to study the stably-stratified portion of the solar tachocline. Analytic and numerical results are presented for the extent of MC penetration as a function of amplitude and background stratification (represented in the nondimensional thin-shell system as the Rossby and Froude numbers). The results indicate that substantial penetration of the meridional circulation below the convective envelope is unlikely. Furthermore, the analysis is closely related to the classical Ekman layer analysis and may have additional geophysical applications.
DE: 3210 Modeling
DE: 3307 Boundary layer processes
DE: 3367 Theoretical modeling
DE: 7522 Helioseismology
DE: 7544 Stellar interiors and dynamo theory
SC: SPA - Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting