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Radioactive Heat Production in the Continental Crust and Its Depth Dependence

  • Chapter
Terrestrial Heat Flow and the Lithosphere Structure

Part of the book series: Exploration of the Deep Continental Crust ((EXPLORATION))

Abstract

The depth dependence of radioactive heat production in the continental crust was investigated by converting seismic velocity profiles into heat production by means of an experimentally established relationship between heat production (A) and compressional wave velocity (vp). In converting vp to A, the pressure (P) and temperature (T) dependence of wave velocity were considered by an integral approach, based on the P and T dependences of the derivatives: dvp/dP = f(P), dvp/dT = f(T). The data set (one-dimensional vp-profiles as determined by longrange seismic refraction measurements along five geotraverses in Central and Eastern Europe) was subdivided into four subsets, depending on the geologic age and tectonic/heat flow setting.

The data were fitted to three different heat production/depth models: (1) linear, A(z) = Ao(1 — x/D), (2) exponential, A(z) = Ao exp(—x/D), and (3) hyperbolic, A(z) = Ao/(1 + x/D), where x = z — 10 (in km). The uppermost 10 km of the crust with geochemical irregularities and highly variable derivatives was excluded. In processing the data, least squares fitting techniques (iterative conjugate gradient method) and statistical criteria (Fischer test) were applied.

The results disclose models (1) and (3) and point towards model (2) to be best suited for fitting the data. The mean D value for this model amounts to 15–20 km in Precambrian units and to about 10–15 km in the Phanerozoic realm. In the latter, D decreases with increasing surface heat flow. The value of Ao (= heat production at 10 km depth) is 0.5–0.7 μW m − 3 in the Precambrian in contrast to > 1.5 μW m − 3 in Phanerozoic units. D values calculated for individual crustal layers decrease with depth, less pronouncedly in ancient shields than in younger terrains. In general, a positive correlation exists between D values and the crustal thickness (r = 0.96), a negative correlation exists between D and the surface heat flow (r = — 0.87).

In order to generalize these findings the analysis of crustal vp(z) profiles and their conversion to heat production distributions has been extended to a worldwide data set, including 156 additional profiles from Europe, North America, Australia, India and Africa. These results are given in the Appendix.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geofyzikální Ústav, Československá Akademie Vêd, Bočni II/la, 141-31, Praha 4, Czechoslovakia

    V. Čermák

  2. MTA Geofizikai Tanszéki Kutatócsoport, ELTE Geofizikai Tanszék, Kun Béla tér 2, 1083, Budapest VIII, Hungary

    L. Bodri

  3. Institut für Geophysik, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, ETH-Hönggerberg, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    L. Rybach

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  1. V. Čermák
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  2. L. Bodri
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  3. L. Rybach
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Institute, Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences, Boční II, čp. 1401, 14131, Praha, Czechoslovakia

    Vladimír Čermák

  2. Institute of Geophysics, ETH Hoenggerberg, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    Ladislaus Rybach

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Čermák, V., Bodri, L., Rybach, L. (1991). Radioactive Heat Production in the Continental Crust and Its Depth Dependence. In: Čermák, V., Rybach, L. (eds) Terrestrial Heat Flow and the Lithosphere Structure. Exploration of the Deep Continental Crust. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75582-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75582-8_2

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