Heat Generation and Transport in the Earth

by Claude Jaupart, Jean-Claude Mareschal

Overview

Heat provides the energy that drives almost all geological phenomena and sets the temperature at which these phenomena operate. This book explains the key physical principles of heat transport with simple physical arguments and scaling laws that allow quantitative evaluation of heat flux and cooling conditions in a variety of geological settings and systems. The thermal structure and evolution of magma reservoirs, the crust, the lithosphere and the mantle of the Earth are reviewed within the context of plate tectonics and mantle convection – illustrating how theoretical arguments can be combined with field and laboratory data to arrive at accurate interpretations of geological observations. Appendices contain data on the thermal properties of rocks, surface heat flux measurements and rates of radiogenic heat production. This book can be used for advanced courses in geophysics, geodynamics and magmatic processes, and is a reference for researchers in geoscience, environmental science, physics, engineering and fluid dynamics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521894883
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/11/2010
Pages:	476
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Claude Jaupart graduated from the École des Mines de Paris before obtaining a PhD in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorat d'Etat from the Université de Paris 7. He has been associated with the Université de Paris 7 and the Institut de Physique du Globe since 1982, serving as director of the IPG between 1999 and 2004, and serving currently as Professor of Geophysics. Professor Jaupart's research covers diverse aspects of the physics of energy transport in the Earth including volcanic and magmatic systems, continental heat flux, and mantle convection. His approach is based on a combination of laboratory experiments in fluid mechanics, field observations, and theoretical studies. His contributions have been acknowledged by many distinctions: the Wager prize from the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (1993), the silver medal from the CNRS (1995), the Holweck and the Mergier-Bourdeix prizes from the Academie des Sciences (1995, 1998), the Prestwich medal from the Geological Society of London (1999), the Holmes medal from the European Geophysical Union (2007) and the Harry H. Hess Medal from the American Geophysical Union (2015).

Jean-Claude Mareschal holds degrees in theoretical physics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, applied geophysics from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, and geophysics from Texas A&M University. Following positions at the University of Toronto and Georgia Tech he joined the Université du Québec à Montréal in Canada in 1985, where he is now Professor of Geophysics and teaches geophysics and the physics of the Earth. He was also formerly Director of GEOTOP - the Quebec inter-university network for advanced studies and research in geoscience. Professor Mareschal's research interests include the energy budget and thermal regime of the Earth's lithosphere, the mechanical properties of the continental lithosphere in relation to its formation and evolution, and studies of heat flow at the base of ice sheets to detect signs of climate change. Both authors have worked together on the thermal structure and evolution of cratons and have been mapping the heat flow field of Canada for more than twenty years.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Credits; 1. Historical notes; 2. Internal structure of the Earth; 3. Basic equations; 4. Heat conduction; 5. Heat transport by convection; 6. Thermal structure of the oceanic lithosphere; 7. Thermal structure of the continental lithosphere; 8. Global energy budget; 9. Mantle convection; 10. Thermal evolution of the Earth; 11. Magmatic and volcanic systems; 12. Environmental problems; 13. New and old challenges; Appendix A. A primer on Fourier and Laplace transforms; Appendix B. Green's functions; Appendix C. About measurements; Appendix D. Physical properties; Appendix E. Heat production; List of symbols; References; Index.