Lab 3: Heat in the Earth

ESCI 324 Earths Interior

7 February 2006
Due in one week
You will be making some calculations using the heat conduction solutions on
pages 281-285 in Fowler. These relate to two important problems in heat
conduction in the Earth.
The first is the problem of instantaneous heating or cooling of a half space.
This solution is used to understand the cooling of oceanic lithosphere
created at a divergent plate boundary.
The second is the problem of periodic variation of surface temperature. This
solution illustrates how the rate of temperature change affects the
conduction of heat in the Earth.
You may do the calculations using EXCEL, MATLAB, or any other calculation
and graphing software.
I have written 3 MATLAB function m-files that you may use if you wish. I
have placed them in /net/escilab/esci324/heat/. They are:
ocefloor.m which calculates the temperature as a function of depth and
time in a half space cooled instantaneously at its top. This model is
described on pg. 281-282 of the text. The equation built into the m
file is Eqn. 7-34.
0
( , )
2
z
T z t T erf
t
| `

. ,
erf.m which is a function to calculate the Error Function. It is called by
ocefloor.m.
periodic_t.m which calculates temperature as a function of depth and time
in a half space bounded by a periodic temperature variation. This
model is described on pg 283-285 of the text. The equation built into
the m file is Eqn. 7-45.
0
( , ) exp exp
2 2
p p
c c
T z t T z i t z
k k

] | ` | `
]

]
. , . , ]
Please look at each m-file for the list of input and output parameters. I tried
to match the names to the variable names in the book. I used MKS units
throughout.
I also wrote 2 MATLAB script m-files called run_periodic_t.m and
"run_ocefloor.m" that will make it easy to run the models. They are just
examples and will need to be modified. Within Matlab, you run them by
typing run_periodic_t or "run_ocefloor." You can run them without changes
to see what they do.
EXCEL can be used instead of Matlab. The error function (erf function) is
found in the Analysis Toolpak. It is not routinely loaded, but you should be
able to activate it by selecting Add-Ins on the Tools menu. Check the box
for Analysis Toolpak and click OK. The error function in EXCEL allows for
2 input parameters, the upper and lower bounds. In terms of the equation
above, the lower bound is zero and the upper bound is the parameter given.
It should be relatively easy to solve these equations and graph the results
on a spreadsheet.
Questions/Problems
Assume that the thermal diffusivity of the Earth is 1 10
-6
m
2
/s.
1. Geotherms in cooling oceanic crust.
Plot (one plot) the geotherm in oceanic crust of age 1, 4, 16, 36, 64, 100,
144, and 196 million years. Use the half-space conductive cooling
model. Assume that the temperature of the oceanic crust is 1300 C.
Plot the geotherm between 0 and 125 km depth. Why do you think I
chose those ages? Look at the equation to support your answer.
Estimate and graph the surface heat flow at each of the listed ages. Use
the difference between the calculated temperature at 10 m and 20 m
depth to estimate the temperature gradient at each age. Assume that
the density of the ocean crust is 3.3 x 10
3
kg/m
3
. Assume that the
specific heat of the oceanic crust is 10
3
J kg
-1
C
-1
. Explain qualitatively
why the curve has the shape that it does?
2. Periodic temperature variations.
Assume a daily sinusoidal temperature fluctuation of t 7C that peaks at
noon.
At what depth is the daily temperature variation t 0.5C?
At what time of day does the temperature peak at that depth?
Make plots of the temperature as a function of time at that depth and at
the surface. Include at least two cycles (in time) of the temperature
fluctuation.
Make a plot showing the temperature as a function of depth at noon and
at 1800.
Now assume an annual sinusoidal temperature fluctuation of t 25C that
peaks on August 1 and an annual mean temperature of 15C.
At what depth is the yearly temperature variation t 0.5C?
At what time of the year (the date) does the temperature peak at that
depth?
Make plots of the temperature as a function of time at that depth and at
the surface. Include at least two cycles (in time) of the temperature
fluctuation.
Make a plot showing the temperature as a function of depth on Aug 1
and on September 1.
I want to determine how deeply to bury my water supply pipe so that it will
not freeze. I assume that if the ground around my pipe is colder than 0C
(even for a moment), then my pipe will freeze. How deeply do I need to
bury it if I only take into account the annual fluctuation in temperature? Do
I need to bury it more deeply if I also take into account the daily
temperature variation? Why or why not?