Radiogenic Heat Production and Analysis in Jiangmen Region, South China Block

Abstract

Natural beta decay of radioactive elements in Earth releases heat that boosted the evolution of the Earth and affected the geothermal structure of the lithosphere. Distribution and total amount of radioactive elements in the Earth is a key scientific question in Earth science. In general, radioactive elements are more concentrated in near surface crust. South China Block (SCB) is an extensional region and the lithosphere of SCB has been thinned since Mesozoic time. It’s a major geothermal zone in China. Natural geothermal springs locate along faults and at the edge of rift basins. We collected 253 rock samples in the study area, which cover the typical geological units. The abundance of U, Th, K and the density are tested to calculate the heat production. The distribution of abundances and heat production were analysed and compared with previous work. This work contributes to global heat production database and study of local geological processes.