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UnamedStreamNumber9 t1_jdfhm2t wrote

Reply to comment by CrustalTrudger in Does the metal in the solid core of a rocky planet have any special properties? by VillagerNo4

Not questioning anything you’ve said here but am trying to reconcile your statement about minimal uranium in the core with high school level popular science attributing heat in the earth’s interior being due to, in part, the heat of radioactive decay. If the majority of radioactive elements have migrated to the crust through <geologic process terms I don’t understand>, what is decaying inside the earth (and where) to generate that 50% internal heating from radioactive decay

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CrustalTrudger t1_jdftxd5 wrote

Heat from radioactive decay (primarily of uranium, thorium, and potassium) is an important component of the internal heat budget. These elements are the most abundant in the crust, but they are also present in the mantle and given the size of the mantle, even at low concentrations, they end up generating significant heat.

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