THE RUN OF SUPERADIABATICITY IN STELLAR CONVECTION ZONES .1. THE SUN

The effect of adjustments to the superadiabatic layer (SAL) in a model of the Sun on the p-mode oscillation frequencies has been studied. Nu merical simulations of solar convection by Kim and coworkers have show n that the usual mixing length approximation (MLA) overestimates the c onvective efficiency in the SAL. To correct for the overestimated conv ective efficiency in the calculation of the temperature gradient and t he mean structure of the SAL, we have adopted a variable mixing length parameter, which decreases as the surface is approached, based on a s imple parameterization suggested by the simulations. We find that thes e changes to the structure of the SAL reduce the discrepancies between observed and calculated oscillation frequencies in the low to interme diate l range.