The mantle is the mostly-solid bulk of Earth's interior. The mantle lies between Earth's dense, super-heated core and its thin outer layer, the crust. The mantle is about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) thick, and makes up a whopping 84% of Earth's total volume.

What is in the Earth's mantle?

In terms of its constituent elements, the mantle is made up of 44.8% oxygen, 21.5% silicon, and 22.8% magnesium. There's also iron, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and potassium. These elements are all bound together in the form of silicate rocks, all of which take the form of oxides.

What is the purpose of the Earth's mantle?

The Mantle

Earth's mantle plays an important role in the evolution of the crust and provides the thermal and mechanical driving forces for plate tectonics. Heat liberated by the core is transferred into the mantle where most of it (>90%) is convected through the mantle to the base of the lithosphere.