PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Harold Jeffreys
TI  - The thermal state of the earth
AID  - 10.2475/ajs.239.11.825
DP  - 1941 Nov 01
TA  - American Journal of Science
PG  - 825--835
VI  - 239
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.ajsonline.org/content/239/11/825.short
4100  - http://www.ajsonline.org/content/239/11/825.full
SO  - Am J Sci1941 Nov 01; 239
AB  - "The available data related to the internal heat of the earth are reviewed. From these considerations it is concluded that: (1) The average radioactivities of surface rocks show a steady decrease with increase of density, though there is much scatter within a given type. (2) Heat generated at depths up to 300 km. or so has had sufficient time to approach a state where it is conducted out as rapidly as it is produced. (3) Nothing in the new results encourages the hope that fusion temperatures are a normal feature at any depth within the crust. (4) The thermal contraction available for mountain formation remains essentially unchanged except that a more uniform rate is suggested."