12 ms·
I'm surprised that we're already generating almost half as much energy as all the decay energy in the core. It did not take long for the human race to start be
by X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
I'm surprised that we're already generating almost half as much energy as all the decay energy in the core.
It did not take long for the human race to start being a major force on the planet after we started agriculture.
- pfdietz 6y agoIt's not clear there's much decay energy in the core. That would depend on whether uranium, thorium, or potassium would dissolve in high pressure liquid iron-nickel. Uranium and thorium are highly concentrated in the Earth's crust, btw, relative to the rest of the Earth.
- rwcarlsen 6y agoIf by "core" - you mean to exclude the mantle, then yes, we don't know exactly how much radiogenic [1] heat generation there is. But if we are using the term "core" loosely here to refer to everything under the crust, then a very significant fraction of the heat is generated via radioactive decay. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget#Global_internal_heat_flow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget#G...
- pfdietz 6y agoBy "core" I mean the part called the "core".
- X6S1x6Okd1st 6y agoMy b, I meant below the crust