Estimation of heat sources in planetary crusts from isotherm depth, surface heat flow, and crustal thickness

The depth to an isotherm provides clues on the intensity of heat sources within a planetary crust. In this work, we show that the depth to an isotherm and crustal thickness can be jointly used to give an approximate estimation of the fraction of the surface heat flow that is being originated from th...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz Pérez, Javier, Tejero López, Rosa
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2002
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositório:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/56771
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/56771
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:550.2
Crustal heat sources
Crustal thickness
Isotherm depth
Surface heat flow
Terrestrial planets
Geodinámica
2507 Geofísica
Descrição
Resumo:The depth to an isotherm provides clues on the intensity of heat sources within a planetary crust. In this work, we show that the depth to an isotherm and crustal thickness can be jointly used to give an approximate estimation of the fraction of the surface heat flow that is being originated from the crust of a terrestrial planet. Relationships between crustal heat generation rate and crustal thickness, and surface and mantle heat flow variations on a planet were also explored. The proposed methodology may serve to improve present descriptions of the crustal temperature-depth profiles of terrestrial planets, and may also provide information on chemical and thermal evolution.