The Volcanic Energy Census: Eruptions Against the Earth's Heat Flow

The Earth loses heat at about 47 TW. For erupted magma at 1-4 km3/yr, density 2600 kg/m3 and enthalpy 1.2-1.6 MJ/kg, volcanic heat output is 0.099-0.527 TW (central 0.288 TW), i.e. 0.21-1.12% (central 0.61%) of total heat flow. A Tambora-class eruption (150 km3 bulk, 50 km3 dense-rock equivalent) releases about 1.82e20 J, about 20 central volcanic years, about 309 seismic years, and 12.3% of one year of total terrestrial heat loss. Volcanoes are a small, episodic leak in the planetary heat budget, not its driver.

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-11-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24102425
Primary Topic
Geological and Geophysical Studies
Type
preprint
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preprint

The Volcanic Energy Census: Eruptions Against the Earth's Heat Flow

William Alexander Aldred
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Geological and Geophysical Studies
preprint

The Volcanic Energy Census: Eruptions Against the Earth's Heat Flow

William Alexander Aldred
preprint en

Abstract

The Earth loses heat at about 47 TW. For erupted magma at 1-4 km3/yr, density 2600 kg/m3 and enthalpy 1.2-1.6 MJ/kg, volcanic heat output is 0.099-0.527 TW (central 0.288 TW), i.e. 0.21-1.12% (central 0.61%) of total heat flow. A Tambora-class eruption (150 km3 bulk, 50 km3 dense-rock equivalent) releases about 1.82e20 J, about 20 central volcanic years, about 309 seismic years, and 12.3% of one year of total terrestrial heat loss. Volcanoes are a small, episodic leak in the planetary heat budget, not its driver.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Geological and Geophysical Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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The Volcanic Energy Census: Eruptions Against the Earth's Heat Flow — William Alexander Aldred · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS