Earth's Internal Heat Summary PDF

**EARTH'S INTERNAL HEAT SUMMARY** **Earth's internal heat** - is the energy stored within the Earth that keeps its interior hot - It powers many processes, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and the movement of tectonic plates. **TWO SOURCES OF INTERNAL HEAT** **PREMORDIAL HEAT**...

**EARTH'S INTERNAL HEAT SUMMARY** **Earth's internal heat** - is the energy stored within the Earth that keeps its interior hot - It powers many processes, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and the movement of tectonic plates. **TWO SOURCES OF INTERNAL HEAT** **PREMORDIAL HEAT** - comes from the very beginning of the Earth's formation - generated by energy of collisions and the accretion of materials (accumulation of particles or matter over time) - sustained and supplemented by radiogenic heat over time. *PLANETESIMAL THEORY* explains planet formation through the process of accretion, where dust and small rocks come together to form larger, more massive bodies that become planets. The energy that it acquired as it grew is what we called accretional energy Accretional energy - the heat energy that is generated when smaller objects (like planetesimals) collide, merge, and come together to form a larger body (like a planet). - Provides the heat necessary to melt the early earth Differentiation - process by which a planet or celestial body separates into layers with different compositions or densities. - Happens because of accretional energy **RELATIONSHIP OF PRIMORDIAL HEAT TO INTERNAL HEAT OF THE EARTH** - Primordial heat is the key contributor to the Earth\'s internal heat, providing the initial thermal energy that has been sustained and supplemented by radiogenic heat over time. **RADIOACTIVE HEAT** - the heat generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes (Uranium, Thorium, and Potassium) inside the Earth. PROCESS OF HEAT TRANSFER THROUGHOUT THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH **Conduction** - the transfer of heat through a solid material without the movement of the material itself. - Happens in the Earth\'s crust and lithosphere **Convection** - involves the transfer of heat by the physical movement of a fluid (liquid or gas) - Happens in the mantle, a layer of semi-solid rock (like a viscous fluid). - The reason for the creation of Geologic landscapes (mountain building, volcanic activity, and the formation of ocean basins)