# Where does the energy for a tsunami come from initially? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073 "2005-01-10T18:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073/21 "2005-01-10T19:33:47Z")
See [Google Answers: Molten Earth core vs Solar contribution of energy](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=29757). Lord Kelvin examined this issue at the beginning of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073/22 "2005-01-10T20:02:04Z")
> [@FlippyFly](#): > > Where do we go next? What initially puts the energy in a chunk of Uranium? Elements heavier than hydrogen are mainly created by nuclear fusion in the core of stars. Elements heavier than the most stable one, iron, including radioactive elements, are mainly created in supernovas when stars of much greater mass than the sun explode. [Elements](http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/Hawking/early_proto/kirshner.html) Uranium and the other components of the Earth were present in the original nebula from which the solar system coalesced. The components of that nebula were originally blown out of supernova explosions at the death of earlier stars. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073/23 "2005-01-10T20:17:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > All the references I’ve ever seen indicate that radioactive decay is the major source of the Earth’s internal heat, with a lesser contribution from residual heat from the Earth’s formation, and some also coming from frictional heat due to the Moon’s gravitational attraction. > > I’ve never seen any reference that alleged that all of the heat was residual heat from formation. What’s your source on that? Didn’t Lord Kelvin compute the age of the earth as 80 million years based on what was known about internal temperatures and rate of cooling? And wasn’t this figure so far off because he was unaware of radioactivity, as was everyone, and its effect on internal heating of the earth? That would seem to indicate that radioactive heating is the major cause of keeping the interior hot. Is this still a point of scientific contention? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073/24 "2005-01-10T20:34:31Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Didn’t Lord Kelvin compute the age of the earth as 80 million years based on what was known about internal temperatures and rate of cooling? And wasn’t this figure so far off because he was unaware of radioactivity, as was everyone, and its effect on internal heating of the earth? Yes, that’s quite correct. That was the major factor his calculations were so far off. However, I am not sure how close his calculations were otherwise regarding the amount of primordial heat. > [@](#): > > Is this still a point of scientific contention? Not that I am aware. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-energy-for-a-tsunami-come-from-initially/284073.md?page=1)