ON THE UPPER BOUND OF THE LIQUID CORE VISCOSITY

Abstract

By using Molodensky and Sasao (1995a) and Molodensky and Groten (1998) an approach of expansion in powers of the small parameter =(+)/ (where + and are the frequencies of nutational motion in space and in a mantle-fixed reference frame, respectively, is tidal frequency) a theory of diurnal Earth tides and nutation for a realistic model of the Earth with an inhomogeneous, viscous liquid core and an anelastic mantle is constructed. It is shown that our approach is self-consistent for semi-annual, annual, and principal nutational components (when ||1/180). By comparing the results of modern VLBI-nutational data and the results of our calculations, we have found the region of possible values of the parameters which describe the anelastic properties of the Earth's lower mantle and the viscosity of the liquid core. It is shown that modern VLBI-data are about six orders of magnitude more sensitive to the liquid core viscosity than modern seismic data or Earth free oscillations data.