ABSTRACT
Although it is a bit more difficult to comprehend convection cells operating in solid rock, it has been suggested that convection cells operate within Earth’s mantle. Mantle convection is fueled by Earth’s internal heat, which results from the original heat of formation of the planet, heat generated by crystallization of the core, and heat supplied by radioactive decay of elements (such as uranium) scattered throughout the mantle. A complete convection cycle in the mantle may take as long as 500 million years.1 The simplest way to understand mantle convection is to understand plate tectonics, which can be thought of as the surface manifestation of this process.
