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Earth's Structure and Internal Heat Sources

1) Gravity reshaped the early Earth into a sphere as it accreted material through collisions with planetesimals. Heat generated during accretion and radioactive decay caused the interior to separate into a dense core and less dense mantle and crust. 2) Further differentiation occurred as the planet cooled, with denser materials like iron sinking to form the core and less dense materials rising to form parts of the mantle and crust based on their compositions. 3) Heat continues to be generated in the core through radioactive decay and the decay of primordial short-lived isotopes. This heat drives convection currents in the liquid outer core that generate the Earth's magnetic field.

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Khanh Tran Quoc
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64 views20 pages

Earth's Structure and Internal Heat Sources

1) Gravity reshaped the early Earth into a sphere as it accreted material through collisions with planetesimals. Heat generated during accretion and radioactive decay caused the interior to separate into a dense core and less dense mantle and crust. 2) Further differentiation occurred as the planet cooled, with denser materials like iron sinking to form the core and less dense materials rising to form parts of the mantle and crust based on their compositions. 3) Heat continues to be generated in the core through radioactive decay and the decay of primordial short-lived isotopes. This heat drives convection currents in the liquid outer core that generate the Earth's magnetic field.

Uploaded by

Khanh Tran Quoc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Structure of the Earth

Gravity reshapes the


proto-Earth into a
sphere. The interior of
the Earth separates into
a core and mantle.
Forming the planets from planetesimals:
Planetessimals grow by continuous
collisions. Gradually, an irregularly
shaped proto-Earth develops. The
interior heats up and becomes soft.
The NEAR Mission
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission
Why is the Earth (near) spherical?

• Accretion: the gradual addition of new


material
• When the Earth first accreted, it probably
wasn’t spherical
• What happened?

HEAT was generated and retained


Sources of Internal Heat
1) Gravity attracts
• Accretionary Heat planetesimal to the proto-
earth
2) Planetesimals accelerate
on their journey, gaining
kinetic energy (KE=1/2mv2)
3) They strike the proto-earth
at high speed
Proto-earth
4) Their kinetic energy is
converted to thermal energy
(HEAT)
Sources of Internal Heat
• Accretionary Heat
Sources of Internal Heat
• Radioactive Decay
– The natural disintegration of certain isotopes to
form new nuclei
– Time for nuclei to decay given by a “half-life”

Radioactive decay is an
important source of the
Earth’s internal heat
Sources of Internal Heat
• Radioactive decay
– Short-lived Isotopes
26
Al  26Mg + Energy + … (t1/2 = 0.72 x 106 yrs)
129
I  129Xe + Energy + … (t1/2 = 16 x 106 yrs)
– Long-lived Isotopes
40
K  40Ar + Energy + … (t1/2 = 1270 x 106 yrs)
232
Th (t1/2 = 1400 x 106 yrs)
235
U (t1/2 = 704 x 106 yrs)
238
U (t1/2 = 4470 x 106 yrs)
The Differentiated Earth
The earth differentiated into layers by density:
1) Crust High
LeastSiDense
Low Fe
2) Upper Mantle
1) Lithospheric
2) Asthenospheric
3) Lower Mantle
4) Outer Core
5) Inner Core Most
Low SiDense
High Fe

Because different minerals have


different composition and
densities, physical partitioning of
the earth led to:
chemical differentiation
The Differentiated Earth

Whole Earth Density Surface Rocks


~5.5 g/cm3 2.2 - 2.5 g/cm3

Core: Nearly Mantle: Fe/Mg Crust: Si/Al rich,


pure Fe/Ni rich, Si/Al poor Na/K/Ca rich
Another Source of Internal Heat
• Residual heat from the formation of the core
Gravitational Settling
E=GMm/r (gravitational potential energy)
• Practically speaking:
– A 1-kg ball of iron, settling from the surface to the
center of the earth produces enough energy to heat a
10-kg piece of rock (granite) to 750°C, where it would
begin to melt.
• Heat capacity of granite = 840 J/kg K
The Crust

Continental Crust
• 35 - 40 km
• Less Dense
Oceanic Crust
• 7 - 10 km
•More Dense
The Mantle

The asthenosphere may contain a


few percent molten rock, but the
mantle is by and large solid
Despite this, given time, it will
flow
Loss of Internal Heat
• All celestial bodies lose heat
– Asteroids > Moon > Mars > Earth
• There are three main mechanisms
– Conduction
– Convection
– Radiation
• Conduction is the transfer of heat without
movement of material
Temperatures in the Earth
The geotherm is the description of how the temperature of the
earth increases with depth.
Pure conduction geotherm

Near the surface


(to 8 km depth):
2-3 °C/100 m depth
Heat loss by conduction!
Convection
Heating at the bottom:
• Increases temperature
• Decreases density
Less dense hot water rises…
• Displacing the cooler, denser
water at the top
Denser, cool water descends…
• Where it is heated
The Core & The Earth’s
Magnetic Field
The core is almost completely Fe/Ni alloy. The outer core is
liquid, while the inner core is solid.
Convection of the outer, liquid core gives rise to the Earth’s
magnetic field
The Atmosphere
Early Atm. Present Atm.
N2 N2 (78%)
CO2 O2 (21%)
H2O Ar (1%)
H2S CO2 (0.04%)
HCN H2O (varies)
…others …others

Where’s the H and He?


The importance of life to the
development of the planet

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