The average heat flow through the Earth's surface is 1.5 μcal/cm2/s, which means that every second the Earth dissipates into the atmosphere about 760 × 1010 calories from its interior (Schmucker, 1969). Most of this enormous amount of heat comes from the energy released by the radioactive decay of four long-lived isotopes, 235U, 238U, 232Th and 40K, belonging to three elements, uranium, thorium and potassium, which are therefore usually called heat-producing elements. Short-lived isotopes contributed significantly to the initial heating of the Earth, but were completely exhausted a long time ago. Frictional heat released by the dissipation of strain energy associated with earthquakes and the Earth's tides, and latent heat associated with chemical reactions and phase transformations also contribute to heat production within the Earth, but at a rate of about one order of magnitude less than radiogenic heat.
The concentration of heat-producing elements may be related to heat production in...
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Cross-references
Dating methods; Earth's formation and geochemical evolution; Elements: radioactive; Geochemical classification of the elements; Geochronology and radioisotopes; Geologic time scale; Potassium; Potassium—argon dating method; Potassium–calcium decay system; Radioactivity; Thorium; Uranium; Uranium–lead thorium–led decay system
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Bea, F. (1998). Elements: Heat-producing. In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_100
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