Radiogenic Heating and Its Influence on Rocky Planet Dynamos and Habitability
@article{Nimmo2020RadiogenicHA, title={Radiogenic Heating and Its Influence on Rocky Planet Dynamos and Habitability}, author={Francis Nimmo and Joel R. Primack and S. M. Faber and Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz and Mohammadtaher Safarzadeh}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal}, year={2020}, volume={903} }
The thermal evolution of rocky planets on geological timescales (Gyr) depends on the heat input from the long-lived radiogenic elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. Concentrations of the latter two in rocky planet mantles are likely to vary by up to an order of magnitude between different planetary systems because Th and U, like other heavy r-process elements, are produced by rare stellar processes. Here we discuss the effects of these variations on the thermal evolution of an Earth-size…
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