ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (04/05/84)
>>rmrin@inuxa.UUCP (D Rickert) states: >> Ongoing decay of trapped radioactive matter is responsible for most >> of the heat which shows up in places like Yellowstone and Hawaii. >Nonsense. NPR's Morning Edition (dated 4/4) had a sequence about the >recent volcanic activity in Hawaii. A geologist they interviewed clearly >stated that both the Hawaiian Island chain and Yellowstone were good >examples of mid-tectonic-plate upwellings of magma. NO radioactive matter >of any sort was involved. >-andy kegel No, D Rickert is right. He didn't say that the radioactivity shows up in places like Hawaii. He said the heat did. The radioactive matter is distributed throughout the Earth's core and causes it to remain hot. Tectonic activity is the result of this heat. "Just another Cosmic Cowboy" Ethan Vishniac {ut-sally,ut-ngp,kpno}!utastro!ethan Department of Astronomy University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712