Surface regimes can provide an inherent perspective into interior dynamics

Tectonic processes shape the Earth's lithosphere and surface. Deformation, as a result of tectonic forcings, arises mainly in the regions of plate boundaries. A recurring process is the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, which is widely regarded as the main driver of plate tectonics and the recycling of surface material into the mantle. In geodynamic models, the breaking of the strong crust is facilitated by processes that mimic plastic deformation. Most efforts to include plate tectonics self-consistently into mantle convection models, combine Newtonian diffusion creep with a stress-dependent pseudo-plastic rheology, given in the form of a yield criterion. Studies from seismology and geodynamic modelling indicate that cold lithospheric crust can reach the lowermost mantle regions, even the core-mantle-boundary. Additionally, the agglomeration of continental lithosphere (the most extreme variants of which are called supercontinents) inhibits the escape of heat over large surface areas, resulting in an abnormally heated mantle beneath. Therefore, it can be argued, that surface processes exert control on mantle dynamics as a whole, by introducing thermal and compositional heterogeneities.

An example of the influence of surface tectonics on the interior can be found in the study of the Earth's geodynamo. Theoretical considerations and numerical models indicate, that the heat flux at the core-mantle boundary partly governs the variability of the geodynamo, and therefore the frequency of geomagnetic reversals and excursions. 

We run several numerical mantle convection simulations in a 2D-spherical annulus geometry, with a visco-plastic rheology to facilitate surface mobilisation. The models are evaluated with respect to well-known diagnostic values, used to recognise plate-like surface deformation, as well as the thermal structure of the lower mantle. In this, we aim to connect tectonic regimes or continental configurations that arise dynamically at the surface, to evolutionary trends in the mantles thermal structure.