Crustal structure and surface heat flow near the Colorado Front Range

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Abstract
Two important assumptions regarding the Earth's crust are widely accepted: (1) That in the process of mountain formation, the crustal layers are thickened with the development of “roots” sufficiently great to compensate approximately the visible inequalities of elevation; (2) that most, if not all, of the radioactive production of heat takes place in the upper layers by virtue of average concentrations of radioactive elements comparable with those found in laboratory samples. If these two as sumptions are correct, we may expect to find an increased surface heat flow in and near mountainous or plateau regions. The magnitude of the effect to be expected is computed for various sizes of root, distributions of heat production, and intervals since thickening. The analytical results are compared with certain preliminary studies of heat flow along the Colorado Front Range. It is concluded, tentatively, that the more extreme forms of upward concentration of heat production are improbable; but the present data are inadequate for a completely satisfying answer. The bearing of other possible measurements on this problem is briefly discussed.