Penetrative convective flows induced by internal heating and mantle compressibility

The effects of internal heating on anelastic, compressible convection have been investigated in a spherical shell, with the ratio of inner to outer radii appropriate to lower mantle convection. Serious assumptions are imposed on the modeling of the Earth's mantle by the mathematical and numerical difficulties of the problem, in particular by the introduction of an isothermal stress-free upper boundary. In spite of these limitations we propose that penetrative convection, due to the combination of internal heating and compressibility, could be a mechanism able to generate spontaneously layered convection and local melting in the mantle. -from Authors