EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Mantle Convection Cell

Description
Convection within the mantle is one of the most important processes by which Earth loses heat and drives plate tectonics. Convection is the process by which warmer gases or liquids rise while the colder substances sink. Over long periods of time the solid materials in the mantle (mostly olivine-bearing rocks) act as a slow-moving liquid, allowing convection to occur. It is well known that hot mantle material rises at mid-ocean ridges producing melts for mid-ocean ridge volcanoes and that cold lithosphere sinks into the mantle at subduction zones under its own density. The image offers a closed conceptual convection cell where the mantle return flow is directly linked to the upward mantle flow at mid-ocean ridges. Most scientists agree that mantle convection is likely to be more complex than the image depicts.

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Enduring Resources for Earth Science Education (ERESE)

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