Rise and deflection of mantle plume tails

Experimental observations by Kerr and Mériaux (2004) of the deflection of thermal plume tails by an imposed background shear are reanalyzed using a corrected velocity profile. The deflected plumes are found to be accurately described by a constant vertical rise velocity (equation (14)) that depends primarily on the plume buoyancy flux and the ambient viscosity. Our results can be used to further improve the predictions of numerical models of the shearing of plume tails in the Earth's mantle.