Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The mesosphere (/ ˈ m ɛ s ə s f ɪər, ˈ m ɛ z-, ˈ m iː s ə-,-z ə-/; [1] from Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos) 'middle' and -sphere) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases.
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 ...
Structure of Earth. The mesosphere is labeled as Stiffer mantle in this diagram.. The lower mantle, historically also known as the mesosphere, represents approximately 56% of Earth's total volume, and is the region from 660 to 2900 km below Earth's surface; between the transition zone and the outer core. [1]
The temperature 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. [21] Although the higher temperatures far exceed the melting points of the mantle rocks at the surface (about 1,500 K (1,200 °C; 2,200 °F) for representative peridotite ...
A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a distinct layer based on temperature within a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) with a high gradient of distinct temperature differences associated with depth.
A mantle plume is posited to exist where super-heated material forms at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth's mantle. Rather than a continuous stream, plumes should be viewed as a series of hot bubbles of material. [5] Reaching the brittle upper Earth's crust they form diapirs. [6] These diapirs are "hotspots" in the crust.
Earth cutaway from core to exosphere Geothermal drill machine in Wisconsin, USA. Temperature within Earth increases with depth. Highly viscous or partially molten rock at temperatures between 650 and 1,200 °C (1,200 and 2,200 °F) are found at the margins of tectonic plates, increasing the geothermal gradient in the vicinity, but only the outer core is postulated to exist in a molten or fluid ...
This radiation causes the various ionospheric layers as well as a temperature increase at these heights (Figure 1). While the solar visible light (380 to 780 nm) is nearly constant with the variability of not more than about 0.1% of the solar constant , [ 6 ] the solar XUV radiation is highly variable in time and space.