Re: suppose there was an earth sized watermelon?

From: Odysseus (odysseus1479-at_at_yahoo-dot.ca)
Date: 11/27/04 

Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:00:59 GMT

Patrick Powers wrote:
>
> Scott Robinson <dscottr@bellatlantic.net> wrote in message news:<b1a7q0pemprtgv0a1529tocbe73475ri0d@4ax.com>...
> >
[snip]
>
> > A water planet would be hot at the center.
>
> I'm inclined to believe it, but then why does the ocean get colder as
> one descends, while earth grows hotter?

AFAICT it's because colder water -- down to 4°C -- is denser than
warmer, and sinks. Great as the pressures get in the deep oceans,
they're insignificant compared to those in the interior of a planet,
at least as far as they affect convection &c.; I don't know how water
behaves under extreme pressure, but I can imagine it solidifying to a
degree, inhibiting convection and other transport mechanisms
sufficiently to trap heat in the core. But even if so, there would
remain a surface region where the usual regime, involving water in a
liquid state, allows heat to be carried upward from the depths. 

-- 
Odysseus

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