DIX Planetary Science Seminar

Juno and Cassini have revealed that Jupiter and Saturn likely contain broad regions where heavy elements are mixed gradually, rather than being sharply separated. A major open question is how these composition gradients can survive for billions of years, even though the planets' interiors are vigorously convecting.

In this talk, I'll present numerical simulations that explore how convection mixes compositional gradients in a simplified model of a planet's interior. I'll show that rotation can play an important role in shaping the flow and can strongly influence how efficiently composition is mixed. Also, I will show that under certain conditions, the combined effects of temperature and composition cause the fluid to organize itself into stacked convective layers, remarkably similar to the layers that form in a latte. I'll conclude by discussing the challenges for our understanding of convective mixing and what this means for giant planet interiors.