Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2010
Summary
The first step is to make sure of the facts themselves. In other words – What is the law regulating this increase of heat? At what rate does the temperature augment? This might be supposed to be a point easily settled. It might be supposed that nothing would be easier than to insert thermometers into the rock at different depths in a mine, and to read off their indications; or to lower them into a borehole for the same purpose. But there are many difficulties to be overcome, and a host of disturbing causes present.
Physics of the Earth's Crust – Rev. Osmond Fisher, 1881, p. 4.Heat flow data have been used extensively by geoscientists to provide an indication of temperature variations within the Earth. However, there are relatively few experts available with the necessary experience to provide a critique of the central constraints or to obtain new data for second-order models. Terminology relating to thermal conductivity, diffusivity, vitrinite reflectance, xenolith geochemistry, and so on, is widely recognised but poorly understood, particularly by industry professionals.
As an example, the present state of geothermal modelling and interpretation in the petroleum industry is a peculiar one. On the one hand, there are numerous highly sophisticated software applications on the market for solving the complex equations governing the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins and the maturation of organic material.
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- Crustal Heat FlowA Guide to Measurement and Modelling, pp. ix - xPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001