Geology and Environment Analysis

This essay discusses the significance of heat transfer within the Earth, detailing how conduction, convection, and radiation contribute to geological processes and the formation of landforms. It highlights the role of radiogenic heat and the movement of tectonic plates, emphasizing the implications for energy generation and environmental changes.

Running head: GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Evaluation of The Evidence of Heat
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
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 earth’s temperature was
possible due to the forces of nature or otherwise the forces of heat that altered earth’s 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 earth’s 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).

2GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Fig 1: cross-section of earth’s interior [Source: Duffy, 2011]

3GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
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
earth’s 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. Depending 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 earth’s 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

4GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
next layer, which is called crust. The heat energy again gets dissipated through conduction which
contributes to heating the earth’s 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 mineral 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

5GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
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.

6GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Reference
Chamorro, C. R., Mondéjar, M. E., Ramos, R., Segovia, J. J., Martín, M. C., & Villamañán, 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.
http://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., González, 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.

7GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Summerfield, M. A. (2014). Global geomorphology. Routledge.