DETERMINING HEAT FLOWS AND RADIOGENIC HEAT GENERATION IN THE CRUST AND LITHOSPHERE BASED ON SEISMIC DATA AND SURFACE HEAT FLOWS

Abstract

The balance of the Earth’s energy involves the generation of radiogenic, gravitational, chemical, and other types of energy and the heat loss from the Earth’s surface. In the quasi-stationary formulation, heat losses through the surface are equal to the sum of energy generated by all sources in the Earth’s interiors. The flow from the continental surface is estimated at 47–49 mW/m2. Estimates (accomplished by various researchers) of the mantle component of the heat flows range from 3 to 25 mW/m2.