Geothermal and electrical conductivity measurements of the structure of the crust and upper mantle in Australia

Abstract

The primary intent of this thesis is to provide data on the distribution of surface heat flow and of the electrical conductivity at a depth in the earth that can be used to help determine the temperature structure of the earth’s crust and upper mantle. Particular emphasis is placed on the differences between different continental regions. Temperatures are important in practically every branch of geophysics, geochemistry and geology. Geophysicists are interested in the velocities of seismic waves, in the strengths of rocks related to shearing, faulting and folding, in variations in surface gravity fields, in isostasy, in the electrical conductivity of the earth and in the Curie point of magnetic minerals. Geochemists and geologists are concerned with the conditions of stable mineral assembledges and the kinetics of mineral formation, with metamorphic processes, differentiation, igneous activity, tectonics and with mineralisation. All of these fields of study require estimates of temperature in the earth. Show more