Heat flow in the Snowy Mountains of Australia
Abstract
Heat flow in the Snowy Mountains has been calculated from the underground temperatures taken during the construction of five major tunnels enclosing an area of about 1000 km². Four of the tunnels are in reasonably homogeneous granitic rocks for appreciable portions of their lengths, and reliable heat flows could be obtained from the parts of the tunnels in this type of rock. Measurements of the thermal conductivity of a total of 161 specimens were used in the calculations of the heat flows. The results in these four tunnels, based on 124 temperature measurements corrected for the influences of the surrounding topography and the physiographic history of the region, are 2.3, 2.0, 2.0 and 1.7, all ±0.2 μcal/cm² sec. The fifth tunnel encountered granite for a distance of only 3 miles; a rough value of the heat flow there is 1.8±0.4 μcal/cm² sec. The variation in heat flow can plausibly be ascribed to a heterogeneous distribution of heat producing elements in the underlying rocks. The mean heat flow in southeastern Australia and Tasmania exceeds 2 μcal/cm² sec; the values in the Snowy Mountains are consistent with the regional pattern.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Geophysical Research
- Pub Date:
- May 1967
- DOI:
- 10.1029/JZ072i010p02635
- Bibcode:
- 1967JGR....72.2635S
- Keywords:
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- Tectonophysics: Heat flow;
- Information Related to Geographic Regions: Australia