Abstract
DR. STACEY'S suggested mechanism is a specific one by which convective overturn can be brought about by the chemical separation which must occur if the Earth has been formed by accretion and the iron core has grown gradually in radius. It seems doubtful, however, to me that the rate of release of gravitational energy by chemical separation can be as great as that released by the decay of radioactive elements, although in any event it appears that the form of convection should not depend on the cause of the density differences which give rise to convective instability.
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References
Runcorn, S. K., Nature, 193, 311; 195, 1150 (1962).
Chapman, S., and Bartels, J., Geomagnetism, 1, 114 (Oxf. Univ. Press, 1940). Runcorn, S. K., Handbuch der Physik, 47, 498 (Springer-Verlag, 1956).
Doell, R. R., and Cox, A., Nature, 192, 645 (1961).
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RUNCORN, S. A New Mechanism for Convection in the Mantle and Continental Accretion. Nature 197, 583 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/197583a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/197583a0
