geotechinical engineering & Geographic Information Sysytem

Heat Flow and Geothermic

Heat transfer is the exchange of thermal energy between physical systems. Here the rate of heat transfer is dependent on the temperatures of the systems and properties of the interceding medium through which the heat is exchanged. The three fundamental modes of heat transfer are radiation, convection and conduction. Heat transfer, the flow of energy in the form of heat, is a process by which a system's internal energy is changed, hence is of indispensable use in applications of the First Law of Thermodynamics. Conduction is known as diffusion, not to be confused with diffusion related to the mixing of constituents of a fluid. Geothermal energy is heat energy generated and stored in the Earth. The Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. The geothermal energy of the Earth's crust originates from the original formation of the planet and from the radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. The adjective geothermal originates from the Greek roots, meaning earth, and thermos, meaning hot. Earth’s internal heat is thermal energy generated from radioactive decay and continual heat loss from Earth's formation.