Numerical calculations (2) -horizontal cell sizes of convection cells The horizontal cell sizes of mantle convection induced by the effect of continental plates Numerical calculations (1) -temperature and stream function Numerical calculations (3) -the case of a plate covering the whole surface
 

Figure 4 shows the aspect ratio of those convection cells that extend from beneath the plate to the outside with respect to the horizontal scale of the plate.

The values of aspect ratio are completely different for the case of Ra=104 from those of Ra=105 or 106. In the case of Ra=104, the aspect ratio remains the same for all plate sizes. In the cases of Ra=105 and 106, however, the aspect ratio of the convection cell increases as the horizontal size of the plate increases. Moreover, the horizontal scale of the cells tends to be almost the same as that of the plate, especially for the case of Ra=105.

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Figure 4: Aspect ratio of the convection cells obtained by numerical calculation. The vertical and horizontal axes represent the aspect ratio and the horizontal size of the plate, respectively. +: Ra=106, $\circ$: Ra=105, $\star$: Ra=104.

We can summarize the characteristics of the convection revealed by numerical calculations as follows.


Numerical calculations (2) -horizontal cell sizes of convection cells The horizontal cell sizes of mantle convection induced by the effect of continental plates Numerical calculations (1) -temperature and stream function Numerical calculations (3) -the case of a plate covering the whole surface