Group

Group 44
presentation
MANTLE
DEFINITION

A mantle is a layer inside a planetary

body bounded below by a core and above by
a crust. Mantles are made of rock or ices,
and are generally the largest and most
massive layer of the planetary body.
Mantles are characteristic of planetary
bodies that have
undergone differentiation by density.
All terrestrial planets (including Earth), a
number of asteroids, and some
planetary moons have mantles.
The Earth's mantle is a layer of silicate
rock between the crust and the outer core.
Its mass of 4.01 × 1024 kg is 67% the mass
of the Earth.[1] It has a thickness of 2,900
kilometres (1,800 mi)[1]making up about
84% of Earth's volume. It is predominantly
solid but in geological time it behaves as
a viscous fluid. Partial melting of the
mantle at mid-ocean
ridges produces oceanic crust, and partial
melting of the mantle at subduction
zones produces continental crust.[2]
The mantle consists of three parts: the lower part of the
lithosphere, the region below it known as the
asthenosphere, and the region below the asthenosphere
called the lower mantle. The entire mantle extends from
the base of the crust to a depth of about 2,900 km (about
1,800 mi). Scientists believe the asthenosphere is made
up of mushy plastic-like rock with pockets of molten rock.
The term asthenosphere is derived from Greek and means
“weak layer.” The asthenosphere’s soft, plastic quality
allows plates in the lithosphere above it to shift and slide
on top of the asthenosphere. This shifting of the
lithosphere’s plates is the source of most tectonic activity.
The asthenosphere is also the source of the basaltic
magma that makes up much of the oceanic crust and rises
through volcanic vents on the ocean floor.
.
STRUCTURE

Rheological structure
The Earth's mantle is divided into two
major rheological layers: the
rigid lithosphere comprising the uppermost
mantle, and the more viscous asthenosphere,
separated by the lithosphere-asthenosphere
boundary. Lithosphere underlying ocean crust
has a thickness of around 100 km, whereas
lithosphere underlying continental crust
generally has a thickness of 150-200 km.[3] The
lithosphere and overlying crust make up tectonic
plates, which move over the asthenosphere.
Seismic structure
The Earth's mantle is divided into three major layers defined by sudden
changes in seismic velocity:
the upper mantle (starting at the Moho, or base of the crust around 7 to
35 km (4.3 to 21.7 mi) downward to 410 km (250 mi).
 the transition zone (approximately 410–660 km or 250–410 mi), in
which wadsleyite (≈ 410–520 km or 250–320 mi) and ringwoodite (≈ 525–
660 km or 326–410 mi) are stable.
the lower mantle (approximately 660–2,891 km or 410–1,796 mi), in
which bridgmanite (≈ 660–2,685 km or 410–1,668 mi) and post-
perovskite (≈ 2,685–2,891 km or 1,668–1,796 mi) are stable.

Mineralogical structure
The top of the mantle is defined by a
sudden increase in seismic velocity, which
was first noted by Andrija Mohorovičić in
1909; this boundary is now referred to as
the Mohorovičić discontinuity or "Moho"
UPPER MANTLE

The upper mantle is

dominantly peridotite,
composed primarily of variable
proportions of the
minerals olivine, clinopyroxene
, orthopyroxene, and an
aluminous phase. The
aluminous phase
is plagioclase in the uppermost
mantle, then spinel, and
then garnet below ~100 km.
Gradually through the upper
mantle, pyroxenes become less
stable and transform
into majoritic garnet.
LOWER MANTLE

The lower mantle is

composed primarily
of bridgmanite and ferroper
iclase, with minor amounts
of calcium perovskite,
calcium-ferrite structured
oxide, and stishovite. In the
lowermost ~200 km of the
mantle, bridgmanite
isochemically transforms
into post-perovskite.
 COMPOSITION

The chemical composition of the mantle is difficult to

determine with a high degree of certainty because it is
largely inaccessible. Rare exposures of mantle rocks
occur in ophiolites, where sections of oceanic lithosphere
have been obducted onto a continent. Mantle rocks are
also sampled as xenoliths within basalts or kimberlites.

Most estimates of the mantle composition are

based on rocks that sample only the uppermost
mantle. There is debate as to whether the rest of
the mantle, especially the lower mantle, has the
same bulk composition.[10] The mantle's
composition has changed through the Earth's
history due to the extraction of magma that
solidified to form oceanic crust and continental
crust.
TEMPERATURE & PRESSURE

In the mantle, temperatures range from approximately 200 °C

(392 °F) at the upper boundary with the crust to approximately
4,000 °C (7,230 °F) at the core-mantle boundary.[11] The geothermal
gradient of the mantle increases rapidly in the thermal boundary
layers at the top and bottom of the mantle, and increases gradually
through the interior of the mantle.[12] Although the higher
temperatures far exceed the melting points of the mantle rocks at
the surface (about 1200 °C for representative peridotite), the
mantle is almost exclusively solid.[13] The enormous lithostatic
pressure exerted on the mantle prevents melting, because the
temperature at which melting begins (the solidus) increases with
pressure.
The pressure in the mantle increases from a few kbar at the Moho
to 1390 kbar (139 GPa) at the core-mantle boundary[1
MOVEMENT

Because of the temperature difference between the

Earth's surface and outer core and the ability of the
crystalline rocks at high pressure and temperature to
undergo slow, creeping, viscous-like deformation over
millions of years, there is a convective material
circulation in the mantle.[14] Hot material upwells,
while cooler (and heavier) material sinks downward.
Downward motion of material occurs at convergent
plate boundaries called subduction zones. Locations
on the surface that lie over plumes are predicted to
have high elevation (because of the buoyancy of the
hotter, less-dense plume beneath) and to exhibit hot
spot volcanism. The volcanism often attributed to
deep mantle plumes is alternatively explained by
passive extension of the crust, permitting magma to
leak to the surface (the "Plate" hypothesis).[15]
EXPLORATION

Exploration of the mantle is generally

conducted at the seabed rather than on land
because of the relative thinness of the oceanic
crust as compared to the significantly thicker
continental crust.
The first attempt at mantle exploration, known
as Project Mohole, was abandoned in 1966 after
repeated failures and cost over-runs. The
deepest penetration was approximately 180 m
(590 ft). In 2005 an oceanic borehole reached
1,416 metres (4,646 ft) below the sea floor from
the ocean drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution.
 QUESTION

1. What is the lower and upper mantle ?

2.What activity was performed at the mantle ?

3. What minerals found in mantle ?

4.What is the measure of mantle ?

5.What is the composition of mantle ?

6.What are the three structure of the mantle ?