Deep inside our Earth is a big layer.
It is very hot there. It is also very heavy. This layer moves very slowly. It helps make our world work. Can you imagine being that deep?
Deep inside the Earth is a huge layer.
It takes up over half of the Earth. This layer is very hot. It is also very heavy. High pressure makes it even heavier.
The layer moves very slowly. It moves only a tiny bit each year. This layer sits above the bright, hot core. It is a very big part of our world.
The lower mantle is a huge part of Earth. It takes up about 56% of Earth's total volume. This layer sits below the upper mantle. It also sits above the outer core.
It is very hot and under high pressure. The temperature starts at 1,600 degrees Celsius. It gets hotter as you go deeper. At the bottom, it reaches 3,700 degrees Celsius. This layer moves very slowly. It moves about one centimeter every year.
Scientists study the lower mantle using seismic waves. These are waves of energy that travel through Earth. The top of this layer starts at a depth of 660 km. At this depth, a mineral called ringwoodite breaks down. It turns into new minerals. These are bridgmanite and ferropericlase.
Most of the lower mantle is made of three parts. These are bridgmanite, ferropericlase, and calcium-silicate perovskite. Scientists are still talking about the exact mix. They also study how iron inside these minerals changes. This is called a spin transition. This change can affect how the mantle moves.
The lower mantle is a huge part of our planet. It takes up about 56% of Earth's total volume. This thick layer sits below the upper mantle. It also sits right above the outer core.
Scientists often call this region the mesosphere. It is a very important part of Earth's structure. Understanding it helps us learn how our world works.
This layer changes in a special way as you go deeper. At a depth of 660 km, a mineral called ringwoodite breaks down. This happens because of high pressure. The ringwoodite turns into two new minerals. These are bridgmanite and ferropericlase.
This change marks the boundary between the upper and lower mantle. The mantle moves very slowly at about one centimeter per year.
People have studied this layer for a long time. A geology professor named Reginald Aldworth Daly used the term "mesospheric shell." He worked at Harvard University in 1940. Back then, scientists did not know about plate tectonics yet.
He thought the Earth had three main layers. He believed the mesosphere was a solid shell. Later, a model called PREM helped divide the layer into three sections.
There are many facts about the lower mantle's environment. The temperature starts at 1,600 degrees Celsius at the top. It reaches 3,700 degrees Celsius at the bottom.
The layer is mostly made of three things. These are bridgmanite, ferropericlase, and calcium-silicate perovskite. Scientists are still debating the exact mix of these minerals. Some think it is pyrolitic, which means it is mostly bridgmanite. Others think it is chondritic, like certain meteorites.
We can think of the lower mantle like a slow-moving machine. Heat moves through it mainly by convection. This is a way that heat travels through moving material.
Inside the minerals, there is also a spin transition. This happens to iron atoms under high pressure. This change can make minerals denser or harder to squeeze. These tiny changes might even affect how huge plumes of heat move through the mantle.
The lower mantle is a massive region located deep within the Earth. It occupies approximately 56% of the planet's total volume. This layer sits below the transition zone and rests directly above the outer core. Historically, scientists have also referred to this region as the mesosphere. Understanding the lower mantle is essential for studying how heat and material move inside our planet.
The boundary between the upper and lower mantle is defined by specific physical changes. At a depth of 660 kilometers, a mineral known as ringwoodite decomposes. This mineral breaks down into two new substances: Mg-Si perovskite and magnesiowüstite. This chemical change causes a sharp increase in density and seismic wave velocities. This transition marks the official start of the lower mantle. The mantle itself moves very slowly, at a rate of about one centimeter per year.
The Preliminary Reference Earth Model, or PREM, divides the lower mantle into three distinct sections. The first section spans from 660 to 770 kilometers deep. In this zone, the transformation of ringwoodite into bridgmanite and ferropericlase causes a 6% to 11% change in compression wave velocity. The second section extends from 770 to 2,700 kilometers. Here, velocity increases gradually due to adiabatic compression, which is the compression of mineral phases without losing heat. The final section, the D-layer, exists between 2,700 and 2,900 kilometers. This layer serves as the transition between the lower mantle and the liquid outer core.
Temperature and pressure change significantly throughout this vast layer. At the topmost boundary, temperatures are around 1,600 degrees Celsius. As you descend toward the base, temperatures rise to approximately 3,700 degrees Celsius. The pressure is also immense, ranging from 24 gigapascals to 135 gigapascals. Heat moves through the lower mantle primarily through convection. This means heat is transported by the movement of the material itself. Other methods, like conduction or radiative heat transfer, are considered negligible in this region.
Scientists are still debating the exact chemical composition of the lower mantle. The layer is primarily composed of three minerals: bridgmanite, ferropericlase, and calcium-silicate perovskite. One theory suggests a pyrolitic composition. This model implies the mantle is homogeneous and contains a magnesium-to-silicon ratio of 1.27. Under this theory, the volume is 75% bridgmanite, 17% ferropericlase, and 8% calcium-silicate perovskite. Another theory suggests a chondritic composition. This model suggests the mantle formed from chondritic meteorites, which would result in a magnesium-to-silicon ratio of approximately 1.
High pressure also causes a unique phenomenon called a spin transition in iron-bearing minerals. In minerals like ferropericlase and bridgmanite, the iron atoms change from a high-spin state to a low-spin state. For example, iron in ferropericlase undergoes this transition between 50 and 90 gigapascals. In bridgmanite, the transition occurs at different pressures depending on the iron's position in the mineral structure. This electronic change can increase the density and incompressibility of the minerals. Researchers are currently using numerical simulations to see how these transitions affect mantle plume dynamics and chemistry.
The study of the mesosphere has a long history in geology. The term was originally coined by Reginald Aldworth Daly, a professor at Harvard University. In 1940, Daly proposed a model of the Earth consisting of the lithosphere, the asthenosphere, and the mesospheric shell. At that time, scientists had not yet established the theory of plate tectonics. Daly's model suggested the mesosphere was a solid shell that extended to the top of the core. Today, while our models have become much more complex, his work helped set the stage for modern deep-Earth science.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (1)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.