Role of plate-driven mantle flow in distribution of the global heat flow

Heal flow in the Earth, from its hut interior to its relatively cool exteri or, is the primary energy now responsible for the dynamic nature of our pla net. The motion of the plates excites a forced convective motion in the man tle, and this plate-driven mantle flow will strongly modulate the temperatu re field in the mantle because of the relatively high Peclet number of the mantle dynamic system. Here the role of the plate-driven mantle flow in the observed global heat flow is examined. The result reveals that the main fe ature of the distribution of the observed heat flow at the surface of the E arth matches well with the prediction and nearly one half of the average he at flow can be attributed to the thermal effect of the plate-driven mantle flow.