Latent heat

About: Latent heat is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13503 publications have been published within this topic receiving 302811 citations.

The initial cooling of pahoehoe flow lobes

Abstract: In this paper we describe a new thermal model for the initial cooling of pahoehoe lava flows. The accurate modeling of this initial cooling is important for understanding the formation of the distinctive surface textures on pahoehoe lava flows as well as being the first step in modeling such key pahoehoe emplacement processes as lava flow inflation and lava tube formation. This model is constructed from the physical phenomena observed to control the initial cooling of pahoehoe flows and is not an empirical fit to field data. We find that the only significant processes are (a) heat loss by thermal radiation, (b) heat loss by atmospheric convection, (c) heat transport within the flow by conduction with temperature and porosity-dependent thermal properties, and (d) the release of latent heat during crystallization. The numerical model is better able to reproduce field measurements made in Hawai'i between 1989 and 1993 than other published thermal models. By adjusting one parameter at a time, the effect of each of the input parameters on the cooling rate was determined. We show that: (a) the surfaces of porous flows cool more quickly than the surfaces of dense flows, (b) the surface cooling is very sensitive to the efficiency of atmospheric convective cooling, and (c) changes in the glass forming tendency of the lava may have observable petrographic and thermal signatures. These model results provide a quantitative explanation for the recently observed relationship between the surface cooling rate of pahoehoe lobes and the porosity of those lobes (Jones 1992, 1993). The predicted sensitivity of cooling to atmospheric convection suggests a simple field experiment for verification, and the model provides a tool to begin studies of the dynamic crystallization of real lavas. Future versions of the model can also be made applicable to extraterrestrial, submarine, silicic, and pyroclastic flows.

Annual cycle of energy balance of Zongo Glacier, Cordillera Real, Bolivia

Abstract: An 18-month meteorological data set recorded at 5150 m above sea level (asl) on Zongo Glacier, in the tropical Andes of Bolivia, is used to derive the annual cycle of the local energy balance and to compare it to the local mass balance. The roughness parameters needed to calculate the turbulent fluxes over the surface are deduced from direct sublimation measurements performed regularly on the field site and serve as calibration parameters. For the hydrological year September 1996 to August 1997, net all-wave radiation (16.5 W m−2) is the main source of energy at the glacier surface and shows strong fluctuations in relation to the highly variable albedo. An important peculiarity of tropical glaciers is the negative latent heat flux (−17.7 W m−2) indicating strong sublimation, particularly during the dry season. The latent heat flux is reduced during the wet season because of a lower vertical gradient of humidity. The sensible heat flux (6.0 W m−2), continuously positive throughout the year, and the conductive heat flux in the snow/ice (2.8 W m−2) also bring energy to the surface. There is a good agreement between the monthly ablation calculated by the energy balance and the ablation evaluated from stake measurements. The seasonality of the proglacial stream runoff is controlled by the specific humidity, responsible for the sharing of the energy between sublimation and melting.