What will make the Earth cool in the future?

The earth is getting colder. Since the formation of the Solar System and our planet about 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth is now gradually depleting its heat reserves and losing heat faster.

Why does the Earth cool down?

 The earth is getting colder and colder.

Our planet has released large amounts of heat from its core to its surface since its formation. This helps promote convection of the Earth's mantle and some tectonic activity.

This heat transfer process operates between the core and mantle boundary (where the molten core is in direct contact with the minerals in the solid state mantle).

Besides, under the Earth's crust there is a semi-solid "soup" of very hot magma. They get this temperature because the lightly radioactive rocks in the Earth's mantle decay and generate heat.

Once heated, magma rises to the surface (just below the Earth's crust), giving off heat thanks to volcanic activity. At this surface, the lava will become cooled, denser and then sink to the depths of the mantle.

It is here that the magma will be reheated, a process that repeats itself into a perpetual circular motion that has taken place since the Earth's formation 4.5 billion years ago known as convection. coating.

It is this infinite movement of magma that moves the tectonic plates (the crust outside the Earth is divided into many parts to form plates) and that is why we consider the Earth as a planet. "active" crystal.

But scientists say that, one day, all the heat on the planet will disappear and it is not clear how long this convection will last.

Recently, a group of researchers has come up with a new factor: The Earth may be frozen earlier than expected.

 Diagram of mantle convection. The red arrows indicate the movement of magma under the Earth's crust.

A conductor of heat causes the Earth to cool faster

First, to understand how heat is dissipated, we need to understand how it travels from the Earth's core to the mantle.

To do this, experts studied the thermal conductivity of a mineral called Bridgmanite (the most abundant mineral on Earth located below the mantle). These minerals form part of the solid mantle in direct contact with the molten core.

 The image illustrates the internal structure of the Earth, from the inside to the outside: inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

Thanks to its electrical conductivity and according to the laws of physics, the more it conducts electricity, the more heat it transfers which leads to our planet cooling down faster.

The researchers recreated the conditions that existed between the core and the mantle in the lab, and measured their thermal conductivity. The results showed that these minerals conduct electricity 1.5 times more than previously thought by scientists.

This means that the Earth's mantle will cool faster. As a result, the plate tectonic activity formed by the movement of magma in the mantle will quickly stop, making Earth a "dead" planet geologically.