mantle rock

noun

, Physical Geography.

1. the layer of disintegrated and decomposed rock fragments, including soil, just above the solid rock of the earth's crust; regolith.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mantle rock¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

The plates are a layered combination of buoyant crust and more dense upper mantle rock.

From Science Magazine

But in one area south of the line, near the eastern border of Bhutan, a trio of springs also contained mantle signatures— a hint that one section of the Indian Plate might be peeling apart, with hot mantle rock flowing into the space in between.

From Science Magazine

Support for this picture came from an analysis of earthquake waves rippling across the boundary between crustal and mantle rock.

From Science Magazine

West of the proposed break, the bottom of the Indian Plate appears to be some 200 kilometers deep, suggesting it is still intact; to the east, where the slab splits in two, mantle rock is flowing in around a depth of 100 kilometers.

From Science Magazine

Indeed, it appears the team is already sampling mantle rock that has never melted into magma, which then cools and crystallizes into different kinds of crustal rocks, says Vincent Salters, a geochemist at Florida State University.

From Science Magazine