Regime transitions of dynamos driven by fingering double-diffusive convection

Long-term cooling of planetary interiors is expected to progressively establish thermally stable stratification in the liquid outer core, yet its influence on dynamo action remains incompletely understood. Here we present three-dimensional numerical simulations of fingering double-diffusive convection-driven dynamos to investigate how strengthening thermally stable stratification, modifies compositional convection driven flows and dynamos. Our results show that dynamo evolution is governed by a competition between Lorentz-force regulation and stratification-induced flow reorganisation. When stratification is weak, the system remains in a strong-field regime characterised by a relatively stable, dipole-dominated magnetic field, despite reduced flow intensity. As stratification strengthens, the emergence and intensification of prograde equatorial zonal flow become the dominant manifestation of the systematic reorganization of the flow morphology. Once a critical stratification strength is exceeded, flow reorganisation becomes dominant, leading to an abrupt transition to a weak-field dynamo accompanied by a sharp decline in magnetic energy. In the weak-field regime, magnetic field intensity exhibits enhanced temporal variability and continues to decay as stratification further strengthens, eventually resulting in dynamo cessation even when compositional buoyancy persists. These results indicate that thermally stable stratification may play an important role in regulating planetary dynamos and provide new insight into the long-term magnetic evolution of terrestrial planets.

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Publication Details

Journal
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Published
2026-09-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2026.120351
Primary Topic
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
Type
article
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Regime transitions of dynamos driven by fingering double-diffusive convection

Yufeng Lin, Wei Fan
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
article

Regime transitions of dynamos driven by fingering double-diffusive convection

Yufeng Lin, Wei Fan
article en

Abstract

Long-term cooling of planetary interiors is expected to progressively establish thermally stable stratification in the liquid outer core, yet its influence on dynamo action remains incompletely understood. Here we present three-dimensional numerical simulations of fingering double-diffusive convection-driven dynamos to investigate how strengthening thermally stable stratification, modifies compositional convection driven flows and dynamos. Our results show that dynamo evolution is governed by a competition between Lorentz-force regulation and stratification-induced flow reorganisation. When stratification is weak, the system remains in a strong-field regime characterised by a relatively stable, dipole-dominated magnetic field, despite reduced flow intensity. As stratification strengthens, the emergence and intensification of prograde equatorial zonal flow become the dominant manifestation of the systematic reorganization of the flow morphology. Once a critical stratification strength is exceeded, flow reorganisation becomes dominant, leading to an abrupt transition to a weak-field dynamo accompanied by a sharp decline in magnetic energy. In the weak-field regime, magnetic field intensity exhibits enhanced temporal variability and continues to decay as stratification further strengthens, eventually resulting in dynamo cessation even when compositional buoyancy persists. These results indicate that thermally stable stratification may play an important role in regulating planetary dynamos and provide new insight into the long-term magnetic evolution of terrestrial planets.

Earth and Planetary Science LettersVol. 695
Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
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Regime transitions of dynamos driven by fingering double-diffusive convection — Yufeng Lin, Wei Fan · Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS