Transition to hard turbulence in thermal convection at infinite Prandtl number

Direct numerical simulations of two-dimensional high Rayleigh (Ra) number, base-heated thermal convection in large aspect-ratio boxes are presented for infinite Prandtl number fluids, as applied to the Earth's mantle. A transition is characterized in the flow structures in the neighborhood of Ra between 10⁷ and 10⁸. These high Ra flows consist of large-scale cells with strong intermittent, boundary-layer instabilities. For Ra exceeding 10⁷ it is found that the heat-transfer mechanism changes from one characterized by mushroom-like plumes to one consisting of disconnected ascending instabilities, which do not carry with them all the thermal anomaly from the bottom boundary layer. Plume-plume collisions become much more prominent in high Ra situations and have a tendency of generating a pulse-like behavior in the fixed plume. This type of instability represents a distinct mode of heat transfer in the hard turbulent regime. Predictions of this model can be used to address certain issues concerning the mode of time-dependent convection in the Earth's mantle.