ELI5. If the Earth’s core is so hot

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I saw this question somewhere else, but if the Earth’s core is so hot, then why are the deepest parts of the Oceans so cold? Shouldn’t they be boiling or at least warmer?

In: Planetary Science

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The earth’s core is indeed hot. However, the earth is also *really* big and rock is a really good insulator. So most of the heat that finds it’s way to the surface is not radiated through the rocks themselves, but rather the gaps in the rocks via tectonic plates. Things like volcanoes are the result of this.

There *are* places at the bottom of the ocean that are hot as a result of this, basically underwater volcanoes called “hydrothermal vents.”

But the vast, vast majority of the energy we get on the surface comes from the sun. It heats things up far more than the center of the earth. The bottom of the ocean is cold because there is no sunlight there.

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