Evaluation of the Evidence of Heat for Geology-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theEvaluation of the Evidence of Heat for Geology. Answer: Heat inside the earth and its origin are the two prime questions that forced researchers to conduct several experiments that can answer their question. This heat played a major role in shaping the environment and geology of the present-day earth (Huang at al., 2013). 4.54 billion years ago the conditions of earth were not the same like it is now, it has undergone several changes which has finally led to sustain life. The stabilization of earths temperature was possible due to the forces of nature or otherwise the forces of heat that altered earths outer geomorphology (Summerfield, 2014). The heat energy stored inside the earth is evident on the surface through the eruption of volcanoes, the violent earthquakes that represent the movement of the tectonic plates over the molten magma, the tsunamis that occur due to the movement of the oceanic plates, and the hot springs. All these natural forces are a sign that in the interior of the earth, there is a strong presence of an energy that is capable enough to both stabilize and destabilize the earths crust. Although, the heat energy is deep seeded in the interior of the earth, it travels to the surface through the conduction, convection and radiation (Modest, 2013). Fig 1: cross-section of earths interior [Source: Duffy, 2011] Heat energy flows a hot region to a cold region through radiation. Radiation is a process of heat transfer in which heat gets transferred through energy waves like infrared radiation and electromagnetic radiation. Both the forms of radiation do not involve matter to transfer the heat energy. As far as the inner core of earth is concerned, heat energy does not travel by radiation because it lacks the radioactive elements. A majority of the radioactive elements are preset in the earths crust and the mantle. The heat energy that emanates from the decay of the radioactive materials is called the radiogenic heat (Sato, Fehler Maeda, 2012). Thorium, uranium, and potassium are responsible for the majority of the radiogenic heat that is generated inside the earth. It is a debated fact that radiogenic heat generated in the mantle results in the convectional movement of the liquid mantle. Thus, radiation does not a big role in the transfer of heat energy from the core to the earth surface. De pending on the fact that core being made up of only nickel and iron which together is called the siderophile, does not conduct heat energy through radiation. This knowledge helps in the mining of the radioactive substances which is available both in the crust and the mantle. Radioactive elements on the other hand gives an added advantage in the medical research, treatment of several diseases, generation of thermal power (Chamorro et al., 2012). The heat energy in the inner core of earth is around 9000-degree Fahrenheit. The pressure inside the earths inner core is so huge that the metals get squeezed and are even not able to move in the liquid form (fig 1). However, this particular layer vibrates like a solid due to the intense pressure. While the outer core is a like a mass of hot metals in liquid state which is made up of nickel and iron. Heat energy from inner core to the outer core gets transferred through conduction. The apparently, vibrating semi solid core conducts the heat energy to the upper outer core through conduction. This heat again after crossing the lower and upper mantle moves to the next layer, which is called crust. The heat energy again gets dissipated through conduction which contributes to heating the earths crust (Kontny Bogusz, 2012). These conductions of heat energy make the geothermally hot water rise out of the crust, which are termed as geothermal springs. These geothermal springs have high mine ral content and tapping this energy can help in the generation of electricity. The next layer after the inner core is the outer core which being in liquid state conducts the heat energy to the next layer through the process of convection. The convectional heat flows into the next layer called the mantle which is composed of dense molten rock. This is the layer upon which the tectonic plates move. There are different types of crust which moves upon the fluid mantle, such as the oceanic crust, continental crust. When two continental crust collides with each other, one crust moves upon the other which leads to the formation of mountains (Suarez et al., 2014). The opposite happens when the two crusts reside which leads to the formation of furrows. Also when an oceanic crust collides with the continental crust, the oceanic crust submerges into the continental crust. The submergence of oceanic crust leads to the meltdown of the rocks that are in connection with the fluid mantle. Due to the continuous meltdown of the rock materials, a phenomenon called churning occurs which leads to the movement of the hot molten rock to the upper layers and the cold rock particles to the lower layer (Fyfe, 2012). This geological phenomenon is termed as convectional movement of the molten magma. This convectional heat flow lead to the direct buildup of the oceanic crust and helped in the formation of mountains and other geological landforms. Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that the heat inside the earth that gets transferred to the surface of the earth through the process of conduction, convection, and radiation plays a major role in generation of energy, formation of geological landforms, and even mining of the radioactive substances for medical treatment. The heat that is stored inside the core of the earth is not directly transferred through the various layers like the inner and outer core, the upper and the lower mantle and the crust. The different layers although transfer the heat energy, however are geologically not made of same contents. Hence, the conduction process differs from the other layers. However, each and every layer contributes to the buildup of heat and the different layers conduct the heat through different processes, which ultimately reaches to the surface of the earth and are both measurable and can be harnessed for energy generation. Reference Chamorro, C. R., Mondjar, M. E., Ramos, R., Segovia, J. J., Martn, M. C., Villaman, M. A. (2012). World geothermal power production status: Energy, environmental and economic study of high enthalpy technologies.Energy,42(1), 10-18. Duffy, T. (2011). Earth science: Probing the core's light elements.Nature,479(7374), 480-481. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/479480a Fyfe, W. S. (2012).Fluids In The Earth's Crust: Their Significance In Metamorphic, Tectonic And Chemical Transport Process(Vol. 1). Elsevier. Huang, Y., Chubakov, V., Mantovani, F., Rudnick, R. L., McDonough, W. F. (2013). A reference Earth model for the heat?producing elements and associated geoneutrino flux.Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems,14(6), 2003-2029. Kontny, B., Bogusz, J. (2012). Models of vertical movements of the Earth crust surface in the area of Poland derived from leveling and GNSS data.Acta Geodynamica et Geomaterialia,9(3), 167. Modest, M. F. (2013).Radiative heat transfer. Academic press. Sato, H., Fehler, M. C., Maeda, T. (2012).Seismic wave propagation and scattering in the heterogeneous earth(Vol. 496). Berlin: Springer. Suarez, C. A., Gonzlez, L. A., Ludvigson, G. A., Kirkland, J. I., Cifelli, R. L., Kohn, M. J. (2014). Multi-taxa isotopic investigation of paleohydrology in the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Eastern Utah, USA: deciphering effects of the Nevadaplano Plateau on regional climate.Journal of Sedimentary Research,84(11), 975-987. Summerfield, M. A. (2014).Global geomorphology. Routledge.