What is the rate of energy loss from the earths core to the crust. I’ve seen this measurement somewhere and (IIRC) it’s usually quoted in watts per square meter.
The only ref. I have handy is Fowler’s Solid Earth from 1994; I don’t know if there have been any updates. He gives the following figures from Sclater et al. (1981) for heat flow and heat loss:
[ul][li]Worldwide heat loss (total) = 4.2 x 10[sup]13[/sup] W[/li][li]Mean global heat flow = 8.2 x 10[sup]-2[/sup] Wm[sup]-2[/sup][/li]
[li]Estimate of convective heat transport by plates (including lithospheric creation on oceans and magmatic activity on continents) is ~65% of total heat loss (2.7 x 10[sup]13[/sup] W)[/li][li]Estimate of heat loss as a result of radioactive decay in the crust is approx. 17% of total heat loss (approx. 7 x 10[sup]12[/sup] W)[/li][li]Estimate of heat loss of the core is on the order of 10[sup]12[/sup]-10[sup]13[/sup] W, and so is the major heat source for the mantle[/li][/ul]
Sclater, J.G., Jaupart, C., and Galson, D., 1981, The heat flow through oceanic and continental crust and the heat loss of the earth: Reviews in Geophysics and Space Physics, v. 18, p. 269-311.
Heat flow varies on a more localized basis, depending on the type of lithosphere (continent vs. oceanic), plus other things like the concentration of heat loss through hydrothermal vents, so there doesn’t seem to be a very good way of getting a mean continental heat flow vs. a mean oceanic heat flow.
Hope this helps.