Radiogenic heat production is fundamental to the energy budget of planets. Roughly half of the heat that Earth loses through its surface today comes from the three long-lived, heat-producing elements (potassium, thorium, and uranium). These three elements have long been believed to be highly lithophile and thus concentrate in the mantle of rocky planets. However, our study shows that they all become siderophile under the pressure and temperature conditions relevant to the core formation of large rocky planets dubbed super-Earths. Mantle convection in super-Earths is then primarily driven by heating from the core rather than by a mix of internal heating and cooling from above as in Earth. Partitioning these sources of radiogenic heat into the core remarkably increases the core-mantle boundary (CMB) temperature and the total heat flow across the CMB in super-Earths. Consequently, super-Earths are likely to host long-lived volcanism and strong magnetic dynamos.

中文翻译：

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辐射加热维持了超级地球中长寿的火山作用和磁发电机


辐射热产生是行星能量收支的基础。今天地球通过其表面损失的热量中，大约有一半来自三种长寿的发热元素（钾、钍和铀）。长期以来，这三种元素一直被认为具有高度亲石性，因此集中在岩石行星的地幔中。然而，我们的研究表明，它们都在与被称为超级地球的大型岩石行星的核心形成相关的压力和温度条件下变得嗜铁。超级地球中的地幔对流主要由来自核心的加热驱动，而不是像地球那样由来自上方的内部加热和冷却的混合驱动。将这些放射热源分配到地核中会显著提高地核-地幔边界 （CMB） 温度和超级地球中穿过 CMB 的总热流。因此，超级地球很可能拥有长寿的火山作用和强磁发电机。