ABSTRACT
The evolution of celestial bodies such as the Earth is characterized by the transport of heat from the interior to outside. Typically the basic static (or nearly static) state in which heat is transported by conduction and radiation is unstable in all or in parts of the interior and convection flows occur. Unlike molecular conduction and radiation, convection flows are rather sensitive to the state of rotation of the body, unless the viscosity is very high as in the mantles of the terrestrial planets. The action of the Coriolis force on fluid motion usually inhibits the efficiency of the convective heat transport, and the ways in which oscillatory motions and turbulence may overcome the inhibiting influence of rotation pose some most interesting dynamical problems. A way chosen most frequently by nature to counteract the effects of strong rotation is the generation of a magnetic field. Through the Lorentz force a new participant enters the balance of forces and evidently facilitates a more efficient transport of energy.
