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The upper mantle of Earth is a very thick layer of rock inside the planet, which begins just beneath the crust (at about 10 km (6.2 mi) under the oceans and about 35 km (22 mi) under the continents) and ends at the top of the lower mantle at 670 km (420 mi). Temperatures range from approximately 500 K (227 °C; 440 °F) at the upper boundary ...
Earth's upper mantle is divided into two major rheological layers: the rigid lithosphere comprising the uppermost mantle (the lithospheric mantle), and the more ductile asthenosphere, separated by the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.
The silicate mantle of the Earth's moon is approximately 1300–1400 km thick, and is the source of mare basalts. [4] The lunar mantle might be exposed in the South Pole-Aitken basin or the Crisium basin. [4] The lunar mantle contains a seismic discontinuity at ~500 kilometers (310 miles) depth, most likely related to a change in composition. [4]
The mantle is divided into upper and lower mantle [21] separated by a transition zone. [22] The lowest part of the mantle next to the core-mantle boundary is known as the D″ (D-double-prime) layer. [23] The pressure at the bottom of the mantle is ≈140 GPa (1.4 Matm). [24]
Mantle convection is the very slow creep of Earth's solid silicate mantle as convection currents carry heat from the interior to the planet's surface. [2] [3] Mantle convection causes tectonic plates to move around the Earth's surface. [4] The Earth's lithosphere rides atop the asthenosphere, and the two form the components of the upper mantle ...
As the upper mantle rises up beneath the spreading plates, it melts, and this melt migrates up towards the surface to feed volcanoes." (Reporting by Will Dunham, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Plates in the crust of Earth. Earth's crust is its thick outer shell of rock, referring to less than one percent of the planet's radius and volume.It is the top component of the lithosphere, a solidified division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. [1]
After 60 years of trying, geologists finally pried rocks from Earth's upper mantle. That's huge for so many reasons.