Abstract:

Melt generation and migration are an important link between surface processes and the thermal and chemical evolution of the Earth’s interior. However, due to the vastly different time and length scales of the motion of solid and molten rock, it is difficult to study these processes in a unified framework, especially in three-dimensional, global models. I present the open source finite element code ASPECT, which simulates coupled magma/mantle dynamics using adaptively refined meshes, and allows to integrate different parameterizations of reactions and phase transitions: They may alternatively be implemented as simple analytical expressions, look-up tables, or computed by a thermodynamics software. Applying adaptive mesh refinement to this type of problems is particularly advantageous, as the resolution can be increased in areas where melt is present or reactions take place, whereas a lower resolution is sufficient in regions without melt. Our software provides a framework to integrate thermodynamic models in high resolution, 3d simulations of coupled magma/mantle dynamics, and can be used as a tool to study links between physical processes and geochemical signals in the Earth.