Rheology
Earth's upper mantle is divided into two major rheological layers: the rigid lithosphere comprising … See more

In the mantle, temperatures range from approximately 500 K (230 °C; 440 °F) at the upper boundary with the crust to approximately 4,200 … See more

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 See more

• The Biggest Dig: Japan builds a ship to drill to the earth's mantle – Scientific American (September 2005)
• Information on the Mohole Project See more

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 … See more

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 See more

• Internal structure of Earth
• Mantle (geology) – a wider description of the mantle of Earth and other astronomical bodies
• Seismic tomography – technique for imaging the subsurface of Earth using seismic waves See more