TEMPERATURES IN THE EARTH'S INTERIOR,
Abstract
Fusion temperatures are evaluated for the earth's mantle from Lindemann's law, by use of elastic parameters determined for a given depth from seismic data. The results are substantially consistent with prediction from the Simon equation, on the basis of a theoretical evaluation of the Simon exponent. The same formulation of the Simon equation is used to obtain fusion temperatures for the core. No inconsistency with these values is shown by deductions from Lindemann's law for the outer core. The melting temperatures found for the core are considerably higher than those predicted by Simon or Bullard, and show no substantial conflict with Jacobs' hypothesis on the origin of a solid inner core. By using data on the teemperature in the earth at small depth, and limits imposed on the possible values by melting temperatures at large depth, the actual temperature in the earth is represented approximately by a quartic polynomial in the depth; the limit of error at large depth if the inner core is solid estimated as = 25 percent. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 1956
- Accession Number
- AD0605047
Entities
People
- J. J. Gilvarry
Organizations
- RAND Corporation