Underworld Magma Models - Overview

These models replicate benchmarks detailed in "Zero porosity, no melting" benchmark of Spiegelman, M., Katz, R. and Simpson, G., An Introduction and Tutorial to the "McKenzie Equations" for magma migration, 2007. Available: http://www.geodynamics.org/cig/software/benchmarks/magma/mckenzie-equations?searchterm=introduction+and+.

Try the Underworld magma models yourself in the:

See More Information for further information and links.

Ridge 2D Benchmark

This instantaneous model of a divergent boundary or ridge replicates the "Zero porosity, no melting" benchmark of the paper above. It solves the Stokes equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions, using quadratic elements for velocity and linear elements for pressure, so that pressure gradients may be evaluated.

Porosity Driven Stokes Benchmark

This model of a rising buoyant region replicates the "Zero permeability no melting" benchmark of the paper above. It solves for velocity, pressure and porosity, by coupling the Stokes equations with an advection equation for the porosity field.

Solitary Waves Benchmark

This model couples a Darcy equation describing the flow of melt through a porous medium with an advection equation for the porosity field which responds to the compaction pressure due to the compressibility of the solid matrix.

Isoviscous McKenzie Equations Benchmark

This model implements the full system of the McKenzie equations, which couple a Stokes flow for the solid (as observed in the Ridge2D benchmark), with the flow of the melt through the advected porosity field (as described in the SolitaryWaves benchmark). The model is incompressible due to the compaction pressure generated by the flow of the magma through the solid matrix.

-- Wendy Mason - 29 June 2010 2009
-- Dave Lee - 24 June 2010 2009
-- Steve Quenette - 17 November 2009

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